Hidden Secrets
by Goldenbrook15
Summary: The spirits are unhappy with Avatar Aang for abandoning his duties and decide to create a new Avatar, the first in his cycle. Who is this new Avatar and how will they react to being able to control the elements?
1. The Choosing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

**_Chapter 1_**

_The Choosing_

The darkness wrapped around those who had entered the cave like cloaks, disguising them from the others. Each of them chose one of the seven seats that were set along the cave walls.

When the last of the cloaked figures had settled they pulled off their hoods. The one closest to the entrance was a young woman. Her face was as pale as the snow in the north and south poles. Her eyes were a deep sapphire blue and her pure white hair was pulled back into a tail. The dress she wore underneath her cloak was white as her hair.

The man next to her looked similar. His eyes were the same color of blue and his hair was just as white. Instead of a white robe, however, he wore one of deep midnight blue, the color of the ocean in a storm.

Across from the man and the woman was another pair. These two, however, both had deep brown hair. The woman had green eyes wile the man had hazel. Both wore green robes embroidered with plants and animals in such fine detail that you could see the fur on the squirrels. They sat straight with their arms crossed over their fronts with displeased expressions crossing their faces.

Grey eyes watched all the others suspiciously. These two were perched on the edges of their chairs, ready to flee at any moment should something go wrong and their temporary peace be broken. The man and the woman were both in yellow and light red clothing under their black cloaks. The woman had long silvery hair wile the man was bald, proudly showing the arrow imprinted on his head.

The last man was without a companion. His hair was deep black with streaks of fiery red and he sat in the darkest corner of the cave with his golden eyes half hooded, watching all of the others as they settled down into their seats. His own robes were black and red with what looked like flames dancing along the edges. He was the first to begin.

"We all know why we are here," he rumbled with a slight rasp, "The Avatar, who is supposed to bring balance to the world, has failed us."

Mumbled agreement spread from the gathered group as they nodded their heads.

"What to do about it though, is the question," the man with blue eyes said, glancing at the grey eyed man and woman who had stiffened when the golden eyed man had spoken.

"What do you suggest we do, Agni? After all, it was you who called us all here," the grey eyed man glared openly at the golden eyed man as he said this.

Agni dipped his head to the man, ignoring the venom in his words. "Too much time has passed. Without the Avatar the world is unbalanced-"

"And who's fault do you think that is?" the grey eyed woman muttered angrily but was ignored.

"-the Avatar is a child. He will be unable to do what he must to end this war," Agni took a deep breath, a troubled look in his eyes; "This is why I propose that we create a new Avatar."

Gasps and mutterings were heard throughout the gathered group. The only one who hadn't said anything was the lady with the sapphire eyes. She watched Agni intently with understanding in her eyes. As the muttering escalated she stood and the others silenced, turning to her.

Her eyes wandered to each of them, piercing them with her unwavering gaze, making them shift uneasily. "I know that you and your people have all suffered at the hands of Agni's people. I myself watch in agony as my blessed are captured one by one and subject to life of imprisonment. I watch as many of them go insane and use their powers for that which is forbidden.

"I watched and could do nothing as the air nomads were slaughtered in their own homes.

"I watch as the EarthKingdom is attacked again and again, slowly being driven back by fire and destruction, as their benders are imprisoned on islands made of metal.

"But I also watch Agni's people, and I see them suffering too. I see family's torn apart because of the Fire Lord's war. I heard their silent calls for peace and I see their tears as they get yet another notice that a brother, as son, a husband, is never going to be able to come back.

"I watch and can do nothing wile they mourn but can not complain. If they speak out against the Fire Lord's wishes, I watch as they are forced to 'disappear' and are never seen again.

"I know that we have _all_ suffered in this unnecessary war, but it is not Agni's fault. The fault lies at the feet of those who have already passed on to the realm of the dead.

"I, for one, agree with Agni. The Avatar has failed his duties too long."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before nodding to the golden eyed man, "A new Avatar must be chosen and guided by us, the first in his or her cycle."

"You already have someone in mind, don't you?" the man next to her said, his eyes twinkling.

She smiled softly at him, her eyes sad. "There is only one that this would be possible for. They must be a descendent of the previous Avatar, Roku, so that the powers of the Avatar are still strong in them and will just need to be resurfaced."

"You wish to make a _firebender_ the new Avatar?" the grey eyed woman hissed, her eyes narrowed in anger.

Sapphire eyes met stormy grey head on and the one who had spoken out flinched under the unwavering gaze.

"_Yes,_ I do. Does anyone else have a problem with that?"

Quick shakes of everyone's heads and the grey eyed woman sat seething silently.

"You plan to make Princess Ursa the Avatar, then?" the woman in green spoke for the first time, watching them all with a curious expression.

This time it was Agni that replied, "No, she is too old. The power would never take to her and might possibly kill her. It must be placed in a newborn, one yet untouched by the way of the world," he took a deep breath, "It must be placed in her firstborn, whoever it may be."

There was silence for a moment before the green eyed lady nodded, "That is understandable. I grant you my blessing to place the power of earthbending within him."

The sapphire eyed lady nodded as well, indicating that she too would grant her element, water, to the chosen newborn when the time came.

They all turned to the last to speak, the grey eyed ones. The man was silent, a troubled look in his eye's, but he nodded in consent.

"It is decided then," Agni said heavily, and nodded to each of them, "Thank you for all coming."

They left in groups of two until all that was left was the golden eyed man, Agni. He sighed and looked down at the small pool of water in a basin hidden in the corner. The water rippled, looking into the future, before showing a new family of three. The mother was smiling tiredly down at her new baby who had fallen asleep. To her right, though, a man stood, looking down at the babe with a calculating gaze. His gaze sent a shiver of foreboding down Agni's spine.

"I am so sorry little one," he said softly, "If only it could have been someone else," he closed his eyes and let a single tear slide down his cheek and drop into the pool, making the rippling image disappear.

_One Year Later_

The cry of a baby echoed through the halls as the midwife held the baby out to the exhausted new mother. The mother took the baby with a smile, looking down at it with love in her eyes. The midwife smiled inwardly. This is what she liked about her job, watching the mothers seeing their children for the first time. She carefully kept her eyes from wandering to the boy's father, though.

The mother was Princess Ursa, wife of Prince Ozai who was the brother of the Crown Prince Iroh.

"Zuko," Ursa said softly, "My little Zuko."

Ozai said nothing as he watched Ursa with his son, but a gleam had entered his eye that if Ursa had seen she would have immediately run in fear for her child. Ozai was not a kind person and if not for the arranged marriage Ursa would have never married him.

As he watched a small, malicious smile spread over his lips. With his own heir he now had a line of succession. The only thing that stood in his way was his brother and nephew, but if something were to happen to Lu Ten . . .

Then it would be he who was in line to become Fire Lord.

**I hope you like it. The second chapter is almost finished and will be up soon.**


	2. Avatar

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

_Previously:_

_As he watched a small, malicious smile spread over his lips. With his own heir he now had a line of succession. The only thing that stood in his way was his brother and nephew, but if something were to happen to Lu Ten . . ._

_Then it would be he who was in line to become Fire Lord._

**Hidden Secret**

"Speaking"

_"__Thinking"_

_Memories_

**_Chapter 2_**

_Avatar_

Prince Zuko watched, wide-eyed as his mother held his new baby sister. She was so small. His golden eyes wandered up to his mother as she cooed at the child in her arms. She was happy, so Zuko was happy.

Zuko had grown quickly for a two year old. He was a quiet child, watching and listening more then babbling like a normal child his age would, but he didn't care what others thought.

Zuko knew that his father was nearby but didn't turn to look, instead focusing on the baby in his mothers embrace. He didn't like his father much. Whenever mother wasn't looking Zuko had caught his father staring at him like he was a peace of meat. Zuko didn't know why but he was afraid of his father.

He always stayed close to his mother as much as possible, fearful of what his father might do if he ended up alone with him for too long. Even as young as Zuko was he could still tell that there was something wrong with his father.

At night when his mother tucked him in bed he tried to tell himself that it was just his imagination that his father had been watching from the shadows. He tried to convince himself that his father was just watching out for him, but could never get his fathers conniving golden eyes out of his mind.

It was only years later that Zuko would realize just how right he was about his father being someone he could not trust.

0~o~0

_Five Years Later_

The pond rippled as Zuko breathed in and out in meditation. He sat alone at one end of the pond in a lotus position, trying to clear his thoughts.

His firebending training had ended a little more then half and hour ago and Zuko was deeply troubled. Every time that he tried to bend like the instructors said he had to the flame came out weak and hard to control. They had told him to use his inner anger to call forth and fuel the flames, but that just felt wrong to Zuko, like there should be another way to do things.

Then there was the way that when he went to do a certain move it felt familiar and yet completely alien at the same time. Sometimes he wanted to let it just flow, not jab out like everyone else did.

Drawing in a deep breath Zuko held out his hand, palm up, and tried to pull out the fire from within him. It came at his call and sat, flickering, awaiting his command. Zuko frowned at it for a moment before deciding to try something different then the instructors had told him. Waving his other hand fluidly over the flame he was only partly surprised that the flame moved with his other hand, like water.

Concentrating, Zuko began to move his hands like he was molding clay and out of the flames the form of a small turtle-duck emerged. Staring down at it Zuko let the flames disperse, wondering why his flame was so much different then everyone else's.

Zuko sighed and shook his head, standing up. He would figure out the mysteries of the world another day, right now he needed sleep.

0~o~0

_"__It was my imagination. The water didn't move wile I moved. It was nothing but my overactive, sleep deprived mind."_

But Zuko wasn't so sure. Staring at the now rippling water he took in a shaking breath. No matter how many times he told himself that it was the wind, he new that he had felt something. Like when he had a connection to the flames, it felt like the fire was beating in time with his heart. This was like he was pulling at the water, guiding it.

No, it could not be.

_"__I'm a firebender. Firebenders did bend any other elements but fire." _

But, if that was true then what was it that he had seen . . .

_"__A spiral of water twisting out of the water following my hand movements, it could have been the wind. I've heard of it happening. There called water spouts."_

_"__Right, and I am the Fire Lord. There was no wind."_

Zuko shivered. He had heard of only one being that could control more then one element and whoever that being was they were an enemy to the Firenation by decree of the Fire Lord. The Avatar was able to bend all of the four elements. The last one was supposed to be born into the air nomads . . .

Zuko swallowed hard and tried to hold back the tears. If this wasn't just his imagination, if he really could bend more then one element, if he was the Avatar . . .

If the was the Avatar, and anyone found out, he would be executed, prince of the Firenation or not. And that was also why he could not go to the other nations either, because he _was_ the fire prince. He had grown up the picture of the Firenation future and could not be allowed to live in case he was too deeply rooted in.

A single tear dripped out of the corner of his eye.

0~o~0

_One Year Later_

The two identical swords flashed in the dim light of the cavern and the small figure danced around an invisible opponent. The two swords moved in exact time with each other, flowing like water through the air. The razor sharp blades gleamed as light from the fire caught their edges. Black cloths clung tightly to the figure's thin frame and sweat beaded on his forehead as the sword dance came to an end. The figure stood, breathing easily with his eyes closed.

Reaching up the figure pulled the black cloth from his face revealing the aristocratic features of the young Prince Zuko. He sighed and settled down on the ground in front of the flickering fire centered in the middle of the cavern to meditate.

Ever since the discovery of being the Avatar, Zuko had been practicing as much as he could in secret; knowing that it might one day save his life if he was ever found out.

It was a terrifying thought, being discovered as the Avatar.

The Avatar had many responsibilities, the least of these being to keep all the nations at peace. He also had to keep peace between humans and spirits. If the spirits thought that they were being wronged it was not unlikely that the humans would be attacked, rightfully accused or not.

The Avatar was easily identified by his control of all the elements. This was why Zuko had been training with swords and other weapons. When he was younger he had taken some lessons with Master Piandao, who was a master at the art of sword fighting. After Zuko's conclusion of being the Avatar he decided that he needed a backup plan in case he ever needed to run.

No one expected the Avatar to bother with learning to swing a sword properly if he had all that legendary power, after all. That was exactly why Zuko had chosen to learn. He had found that he favored the Duel Dao to the single bladed broad sword. He had also started learning knife throwing a few weeks past when he was able to snatch a few from the armory.

He had also gotten fairly good at shooting arrows from a long bow. He was not perfect, but he could hit close to the center of the target every time. Said target was at the moment riddled with many little holes where the arrows and knifes had sheared through.

The flames in the fire pit flared brightly as Zuko took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, clearing his thoughts.

He had found this place not long after his discovering that he was the Avatar. Apparently there were many little tunnels under the palace where magma had once flowed through. This cavern was impossible to get to unless you could part the water that had flooded the tunnel leading to it, and only a water bender would be able to.

It had become his safe haven when things became too much for him to handle, a place for him to train and relax. Up in the palace there was always someone watching, waiting for him to mess up. His sister was one of those that were constantly watching him.

He didn't know what had happened to her. When they were younger they used to be really close. He would often be the one helping take care of her, but ever since his father had started taking an interest in her he had found her drifting away and becoming cruel and uncaring like their father.

Here in this cavern though, there was no one watching. He was free to act as he wanted to act. Here he practiced his bending freely and improved on his non-bending fighting. He could forget the out side world and the expectations that it held of him.

As the prince he was expected to be uncaring and cold, though he never was around the servants. No one important listened to what the servants said anyway except for him. It was nice to sometimes let down the mask of a spoiled prince and just be himself.

Zuko took in another breath, held it, and let it go, the fire following his breathing. With his eyes still closed Zuko lifted his left hand and flicked it at the small pool of water a little way from the fire. The water rose, following the path of his hand. He brought the string of water to him and began to weave it between his fingers. It was one of the simple moves he had been able to find about waterbending.

After an our of practicing control with both fire and water Zuko let out a sigh, letting the water drop into the puddle again and the fire dim to embers. He got up and dusted the dirt from his black cloths as he began to gather his things to head back up. From his estimation the sun was probably starting to set.

The black cloth slipped back over his head and the swords strapped to his back Zuko headed down the tunnel to where the water had flooded the tunnel. Using what he had learned from the waterbending scrolls he had found he brought his hands together in front of him and then swept them, palms facing outward, to his sides. The water parted in the middle and left him with a clear path to follow.

At the end of the tunnel he released his hold on the water, letting it slide back into place with hardly a splash. The tunnel was dark up ahead but many months of traveling these paths had allowed him to memorize where every tunnel went.

His feet were silent on the volcanic ground. There were guards down here. He had seen them many times though he didn't know why they came down here. His own hidden cavern was protected by water but he knew that there were many more that weren't. These were often guarded and Zuko didn't have the time nor the drive to see what they were guarding.

He slipped up the small, child sized entrance that allowed him to get in and out without taking the main entry. The halls to his room were silent and empty but he still was weary and stuck to the shadows. Reaching his room Zuko slipped in and sighed thankfully.

Everything was laid out and he smiled softly as he got ready. The bed covers were smooth and soft. Zuko sighed deeply as his sore muscles sunk into the mattress and allowed his eyes to slide closed.

Tomorrow would be another day, another time, another challenge to overcome, but for now he could relax, forget about who he was, and fall into the land of dreams.

0~o~0

"Hello, Zuzu, I didn't to see you there," the loud, sickeningly sweat voice grated through Zuko's ears.

"What do you want, Azula," He gritted out between his teeth, eyes focused forward and his back stiff as he watched the pond.

"Oh, poor Zuzu, are you mad that mother isn't here to save you anymore?" Azula sneered at him.

Zuko took a deep, shaky breath as he forced himself to hold back the tears that threatened to spill over. No doubt Azula would tell him he was weak for showing emotion if she saw them.

_Flashback_

_Zuko woke to the feeling of someone shaking him awake. Looking up through fuzzy eyes he saw his mother, dressed in a black dress and cloak. He rubbed his eyes and sat up._

_"__Listen, Zuko, Everything I have done I have done it to protect you. Do you understand," his mother said, grabbing his arms with her hands and looking into his eyes desperately. _

_Watching his mother with wide eyes Zuko nodded, not quite understanding what was going on. _

_His mother pulled him into a tight hug as she whispered into his ear, "Beware your father, Zuko," she let go and turned to leave but paused at the door. Zuko could hear the sound of running footsteps in the hall and saw the frantic face of his mother. She turned to him one last time, "Never forget who you are."_

_Then she vanished into the darkness outside the door and Zuko ran after her, but she was already gone. _

_That morning he woke up to find that his grandfather was dead and his mother gone, leaving him alone to the criticizing gaze of his father and manipulative sister._

_Flashback End_

"What do you need Azula," he repeated, because he didn't think that he could say anything else without attacking her.

"Oh, I don't need anything. I just wanted to see how my _precious _older brother was holding up under the circumstances."

_"__Don't attack her. That's what she wants. She wants me to attack her so that she can go running to daddy."_

Zuko took a deep breath to help him calm down and didn't respond to her taunt. After a few moments of silence she huffed and left, striding out of the garden to no doubt practice more firebending.

Zuko sighed thankfully and let the small shard of ice that was clenched in his hand, looking very much like a miniature dagger, melt back into the pond, unused.


	3. Banished

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

_Previously: _

_Zuko sighed thankfully and let the small shard of ice that was clenched in his hand, looking very much like a miniature dagger, melt back into the pond, unused._

**Hidden Secret**

"Speaking"

_"__Thinking"_

_Memories_

**_Letters_**

**_Chapter 3_**

_Banished_

_"__. . . and suffering shall be your teacher."_

The flames burned and sheered at flesh hungrily, mutating the side of Zuko's face unmercifully as he cried out in pain and surprise. The smell of burning meat filling the air as those watching looked on in astonished horror. The only one who didn't looked appalled by the scene was Zuko's sister, who wore a smug smile on her face as she watched as her only brother was burned, uncaring if he was permanently scared.

The flames finally receded, revealing Zuko curled into a small ball with his hands clawing at the side of his face, tears running out of his other eye. He was ashamed, humiliated, but most of all, fearful.

_"__My father did this. My own father did this to me."_

Zuko's uncle Iroh was the first to move, jumping up from his seat and running down to his nephew. Zuko's father watched all of this with an impassive face. He had no love for his failure of a son. The boy's mother was too deeply rooted within him for the Fire Lord to mold him as he wished to. The next best thing was to get rid of the urchin before he became a real problem.

Zuko's last thoughts before he faded into darkness were, _"__You will pay for what you have done. You are no father of mine."_

0~o~0

_Zuko looked around at those assembled for the war council, taking note of all the generals. If he was to one day come out as the Avatar he would have to face these people in battle, and it would be best if he knew as much as he could about who they were and how they thought._

_The meeting droned on as Zuko observed and wrote down what he could about each person in the room. The meeting was almost at its end when one of the last generals stood to speak._

_"__I propose that we send in the forty-first division as a distraction and then crush them from behind with the might of the Fire Army," the general said._

_Zuko felt his insides freeze. The forty-first division was all new recruits. If they were sent in they would be slaughtered. They were Firenation, how could they treat their own people like they were nothing more then tools to be used and thrown away when they were no longer needed? The people gave the Fire Lord their loyalty in return for protection, but if the Fire Lord agreed to this it was like throwing that loyalty back in their faces._

_His father said nothing to reject the idea and instead gestured for the general to go on. _

_Zuko felt horror flood through his veins. He knew that his father was uncaring and a cold person but would he really consider this? To his own people?__Uncle Iroh had warned him to not speak out, but Zuko could not hold back. _

_"__The forty-first division are all new recruits. What you suggest would be a massacre," Zuko said angrily. _

_The general looked at him impassively, "Sacrifices have to be made. This is war."_

_Zuko didn't know what happened after that. He somehow ended up being challenged to an Agni Kai that was set for sunset. His anger had taken over his thinking and he could not even remember that he had accepted the challenge. _

_0~o~0_

_Zuko breathed deeply, keeping his heartbeat steady. He knew that the general was behind him, but he was not sure if he was ready to fight. He didn't want to slip and use one of the other elements accidentally, nor did he have his blades with him. No self respecting firebender would use blades in a Fire Duel, or even at all._

_The gong sounded and Zuko spun around, letting the red cloth that had been draped around his shoulders fall to the ground. His hands were in a ready position to summon fire and already a small spark was nestled between his palms should the general decide to strike first._

_But it was not the general's face that filled his vision. _

_It was his father's._

_The spark died before it had even had time to leave his fingertips._

0~o~0

The forty-first division was preparing for their first battle. The darkness hung heavy over the camp that even the light of their fires could not chase away. They knew what was happening. They had heard it happening to other divisions under this general's command, but they had hoped that they would be over looked.

They were just the distraction. Most likely none of them would come out of this alive.

The captain, Takumi, had received instructions to send his men into battle against fully trained earthbenders. His heart had sunk when he had read the missive. Could the Fire Lord really consider sacrificing his own troops just to take out one segment of the Earth Kingdom Army? Yes, it seemed he could.

The curtain of his tent was pulled back and one of his men, little more than a boy, entered, "One of the hawks from the palace came for you, Captain," the boy said as he held out his arm.

Captain Takumi nodded and took the scroll, unrolling it as the boy stepped back out again. As his eyes scanned the scroll they became wider and wider. With an almost audible gulp he held the scroll over his hand and burned it, just as the words were burned into his mind.

**_To Takumi, Captain of the Forty-first Division,_**

**_I felt that you should know before you go into battle that the scarification of you and your men did not go unopposed. Prince Zuko was attending the war meeting at the time and although he had been warned to not speak out by General Iroh when he heard about what they planned to do to your division he did not hold back his words. _**

**_The prince spoke up for you and your men and for that he paid the price. _**

**_In an Agni Kai Prince Zuko faced his father and refused to fight. For this, the Fire Lord burned the right side of his face, leaving him permanently scarred, and then banished him._**

**_I don't know about you, but I have made my decision. The Fire Lord is not worthy of my loyalty and talents if he would burn even his own son for disrespect. If the Fire Lord is heartless enough to do such a thing to his flesh and blood, then what could he do to our nation? The Prince, even banished, has more respect for his people than the Fire Lord does._**

**_In the next battle, the Fire Lord is willing to kill off your entire division; I can only hope you choose wisely. _**

**_You're Friend,_**

**_General Ryuu _**

0~o~0

The next morning dawned bright and clear. The earth rumbled and chanting could be heard as the Earth Army approached the top of the hill that would overlook the valley that the Firenation Forty-first Division had been commanded to face the Earth Army at in their last stand.

At the first sight of red armor and helmets the Earth Army as one let out a roar and charged down the hills, crushing the Forty-first division under their boulders and feet.

The distraction worked and the Earth Army was cornered in the valley, the very earth betraying them as mountains that once protected them now stood in their way of retreat. The Firenation Armies descended upon them with their fire and metal swords. The Earth Kingdom Army had no chance of survival.

As the battle cleared and the Firenation dug through the earth to find their fallen comrades of the Forty-first division, a cry went up and shock spread through the soldiers.

It was as if the entire division had vanished completely, every last man, leaving behind nothing but their armor, arranged on sticks to look like people.

The Earth Kingdom Army had been tricked into thinking that there was a small Firenation army down in the valley, but the Firenation had been tricked as well.

Many years later stories would be told about the Forty-first Division, and how they shed their protecting armor and were never seen again. Some said that they hid in the mountains and lived among the people of the EarthKingdom. Others theorized that the entire division, were actually spirits, and when the Firenation decided to sacrifice them they went back to the spirit world to plan their revenge on the Fire Lord.

No one suspected the truth.

0~o~0

Zuko woke up with a burning pain in his eye and the bed rocking beneath him. Opening his good eye he glanced around the small space. The red Firenation flag hung on the wall, covering most of it. The floor, too, had a red rug spread out on it. The bed he was on was not large, but it was not small ether.

The rocking indicated that he was on a boat, and when Zuko looked out the small round window he confirmed this by seeing only midnight blue waves.

Lifting his fingers shakily up to the bandage around his eye he hissed at the sudden flaring pain and pulled his hand back. There was a small, handheld mirror on the desk at the side of the bed and Zuko picked it up.

He closed his eye and took a deep breath to calm himself. After several moments he opened his eye again and looked into his reflection. His hair was shaved back so that only a small patch was still there in the back. The bandage wrapped all around his face, completely covering his left eye and ear.

A single tear formed in the corner of his eye but refused to fall. He had always known that the Fire Lord was merciless, but this went beyond anything that he had ever known him to do.

_"__It could have been worse though," _

_"__I could have fought back and revealed that I'm the Avatar."_

_"__And then I would have been dead."_

* * *

***Takumi – meaning: skilled**

***Ryuu – meaning: dragon**

**Third chapter is finished and done. If there are any mistakes then please tell me so that I can fix them. I sometimes get typing so fast that I do not realize that I have left out a letter or something like that.**

**Please review! I need ideas!**


	4. Wandering

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

_Previously: _

_A single tear formed in the corner of his eye but refused to fall. He had always known that the Fire Lord was merciless, but this went beyond anything that he had ever known him to do. _

_"__It could have been worse though," _

_"__I could have fought back and revealed that I'm the Avatar."_

_"__And then I would have been dead."_

**Hidden Secret**

"Speaking"

_"__Thinking"_

_Memories_

**_Chapter 4_**

_Wandering_

They had been at sea for no more than three weeks and already Iroh was worried for his nephew. Due to previous experience he had expected the prince to yell and demand that they head for the Air Temples in search of the Avatar as soon as Iroh had told him about his father's stipulation of him being able to go home.

Unnervingly, however, Zuko had remained silent for a wile before quietly telling his uncle that he needed to think. It was like the hotheaded, angry young man that he had thought he knew before had just vanished, to be replaced by a quiet, thoughtful teenager with eyes older than many of the retired generals he had met. His first week Zuko had seemed to wander around in a daze, his eyes cloudy and his hand constantly reaching up to touch the bandage before jerking back again when the pain reminded him of what had happened.

The week after had Iroh even more worried. The boy had come out of his daze and was jumping at every shadow that so much as moved in his direction. Even the crew had become weary of approaching him because of the random bouts of flames that would be sent their way. One of the crew even swore that when he had approached the prince the bucket of water in the corner had slid across the floor toward him, but the rest of the crew passed this off as the boat tilting at the moment.

This last week, however, was the most unsettling. Zuko had become quiet again and the door to his cabin was almost always locked and bolted closed. When Iroh did see him he was meditating on the deck. The Zuko that he had known back at the palace, the Zuko he had been prepared to deal with, was not this Zuko. It was as if the boy's entire personality had been a mask that he wore around his family.

It scared Iroh to think about what had caused his nephew to become someone that he was not and was only now showing his true self.

He had not always been around for his nephew and more often then not when he caught his nephew with his sister after his mother disappeared he had ignored the panicked glances that his nephew had shot at him, writing them off as him being paranoid. But now that Iroh thought about it he wasn't so sure. Those brief flashes of emotion that Iroh had seen may have been the only time that he had seen through his nephew's mask of indifference and anger.

Looking out of his cabin window Iroh sighed as he once again saw his nephew meditating on deck. He hesitated for a moment, trying to determine what his nephew's reaction would be if he joined him. Before they had left and Zuko had woken Iroh would have said that he would be yelled at, but he had to admit that he didn't really know his nephew like he had thought he did.

His feet squeaked on the metal of the deck as he slid into place next to Zuko. He could never get his footsteps to be near silent like his nephew could without even trying. On second glance his nephew was not meditating, but merely looking out over the deep blue of the ocean to where the sun touched the water, spreading great arcs of reflected flames over the cool liquid. His eyes were unseeing of the beauty of what he was watching, too deeply immersed in his thoughts too notice.

Iroh cleared his throat, "It's a beautiful sunset tonight, nephew," he said softly.

Zuko blinked as he was brought back from his thoughts, for the first time seeing the scene in front of him. A small, sad smile bloomed over his face, the first genuine one the Iroh had seen since they had gotten on the ship. "Yes," he whispered softly, "It is. 'Like the beauty of the fiery sun setting on the ocean, the small things in life are often the most cherished'."

Iroh blinked in surprise. "I didn't know that you had read _The Teachings of Ayumu Rei_."

Zuko's eyes turned sad and his face closed off again, "No, you wouldn't have known," he got up and bowed to his uncle, "Goodnight uncle. 'Keep your thoughts turned to the ever burning fire and let it inspire you in your dreams'."

Iroh watched his nephew go with a considering gaze. Maybe things weren't as they seemed, but at least his nephew was improving.

Maybe he still had hope for a better future.

0~o~0

They were going to be pulling into an EarthKingdom port occupied by Firenation in about half an hour. Zuko could see the stretch land looming in front of the ship. Though he was the Avatar he just wasn't used to being near water all of the time with so little earth.

Bending water had always come easy to him, bending earth was hard to comprehend, and air was as illusive as ever, but they all called to him, whispering secrets into his mind just low enough that he could not understand.

The boat pulled into dock and the captain came out. On seeing the prince he bowed with a slightly weary look. Zuko had been shooting fireballs at anyone who had even come close to him the week before and had almost had an accident with using the water on one of the younger members of the crew. He was thankful that the rest of the crew had blamed it on the rocking of the ship.

"Permission to go ashore, my Prince?" Captain Jee said, breaking Zuko from his thoughts.

"Hmm?" Zuko replied, "Oh, yes of course Captain. I think that we should all stretch our legs for a little wile. Just remember to leave in shifts so that no one leaves the ship unguarded."

The Captain blinked at him in confusion for a moment, as if not expecting him to agree, before nodding, "Of course, Prince Zuko."

The Captain left again and Zuko sighed, looking out over the slightly burned homes and the people walking pass who would glance at the ship with fear. Zuko hated that fearful gaze. This was not how it was supposed to be. The Firenation was always taught that they were bringing peace and prosperity to the rest of the world by taking over, but Zuko could not see it.

"'A war started with good intentions is still a war.'" Zuko quoted softly. He had started reading many books over the past few years, trying to gain a better understanding of what was going on in the world. Many of these books had been left behind in his hidden cavern when he was banished as he had not even been given time to wake up before they had to leave.

Zuko got up, feeling his cramped muscles protest to the sudden movement after sitting still for so long. With a sigh he made his way back to his cabin where he quickly dressed in his dark, earth green cloths, grateful that his uncle had at least brought his bag that he kept packed full of essentials he could grab if he ever had too flee in a hurry. If he was going to be wandering he wasn't going to be doing it at the prince of the Firenation. He had already left a note for him uncle not to expect him until morning. His last peace of clothing was a long, dark green traveling cloak with a hood that covered his face and still healing burn. His uncle said that the bandage would be able to come off in a few days but that there would be a scar.

Swinging his bag over his shoulder Zuko slipped off of the ship and into the harbor as he made his way into the town. This time, without his armor or anything else marking him as Firenation, people didn't so much as give him a second glance. He slipped through the crowd unnoticed, none of the people realizing that they had just walked past the Avatar who was also consequently the prince of the Firenation.

He wandered around for a bit, buying a little food from the vendors and put it in his bag for later. When he wandered past the blacksmith's shop he saw some good quality Dual Dao swords, which were also known as the twin broadswords. Wile he was examining them the blacksmith came up from the back room wiping his hands on a dirty cloth that really needed a good washing as it seemed to be making the man's hands dirtier rather than cleaner.

"I see you have your eye on those swords young man, are you interested in learning to use one?" the blacksmith rumbled in a deep voice.

Zuko sighed, "I used to have a pair myself before I was forced to leave them behind when I left my home," it was the truth, just not the whole truth.

The blacksmith blinked, "I'm sorry for your loss. The Firenation has caused us EarthKingdom folk much pain over the years, and you're not the only one to feel their wrath."

Zuko twitched and was grateful that the cloak hid most of his movements. "How much is it for the swords?"

The blacksmith shook his head, "They are normally around fifty gold peaces but these have been sitting on that wall so long that I'll give them to you for twenty."

Zuko nodded and pulled out his purse, counting out the money and giving it to the blacksmith in return for the two swords.

Twenty minutes later he was swinging himself up on top of one of the abandoned buildings, his new swords strapped diagonally across his back, so that he could watch the sunset and eat what he had bought earlier in the day. The sun was sending out wave after beautiful wave of bright colors that painted the bottom of the clouds in reds, oranges, and pinks.

The wind tugged playfully at his hair and he could feel the dirt beneath his feet and hands hum with life. The water he could hear, pushing and pulling on the shore. And the fire danced inside of him, an ever beating heart that moved in time with the other elements.

Fire was the heart, water was the blood, earth was the flesh, and air was the thoughts of the mind. They all worked together in harmony. He didn't get why most people didn't understand. It was so simple.

"'Separation is an illusion.' Just as the Dual Dao swords are only whole when they are together, the nations are all one being and must work together to bring peace. Just as one can not think of the blades as separate, but one, and both must move in accordance with each other."

He stayed on that roof for the rest of the night, pondering the complexities of the world. When the first rays of the sun had touched the mountain he had already gone from the roof and slipped back onto the ship.

The next morning when his uncle asked the guards if they had seen him come back only for them scratch their heads in confusion, he smiled secretly from his place in the shadows and stepped out, surprising both his uncle and the guards. It was fun messing with people's heads sometimes.

0~o~0

Agni sighed softly as he watched the New Avatar. The boy would have to be informed soon that he was not the only one, and Agni was not sure how he would act. The boy was strong, yes, but would he take the chance to go home and keep his secret? Or would he help Aang when the time came that he was broken free? He had seen that the boy would break free from his icy prison soon, but he could not see which direction things would go in after it happened. He closed his eyes and frowned.

_"__Maybe there is another way."_

_"__Zuko's memories of his past life would have to be unlocked."_

_"__I will need to speak to Anil, the spirit of the wind. I know she doesn't like me, but I might be able to convince her if she knows who he used to be."_

0~o~0

Zuko stumbled into a tent as he was pushed to the side by someone running past. Anger flared in his heart for just a moment before he squashed it. He was no longer in the Firenation. These people didn't know that he had been born a prince and they owed him nothing.

Clearing his thoughts of going after the man and scolding him Zuko shook his head and looked around the tent that the had landed in. The inside was a lot larger then it looked and blankets were hung from long beams to create separate rooms, though the entrance was empty. His first clue that this was a hospital was the smell of herbs and burn paste, which had a very pungent smell.

A young woman swept aside the curtain to his right. Dark bags hung under her eyes and her hands clutched a small, mostly empty bottle of burn paste. She nearly walked into him but looked up just in time.

"Um," she said, blinking, "The burn victims that are not currently in critical condition are down the path on the left."

Zuko looked at her in confusion before remembering the bandage around his eye. "Oh, I'm not here to get treated. I actually just stumbled in because someone pushed me so . . . yah. That's about it."

She tilted her head tiredly and nodded, "Well that's good because I think I just used up my last bottle of burn paste."

Zuko frowned. "Are there really that many people who get burned here?"

The girl scowled but it was made less effective by the large yawn that spilt from her, making her blink back tired tears.

"Stupid Firenation," she muttered and Zuko stiffened, wondering how she had known. He had made sure to cover his hair and shade his eyes with the EarthKingdom hat before he left. "Always burning anyone who displeases them or that doesn't get out of their way. What gives them the right to do that?"

Zuko relaxed again as he realized that she wasn't talking to him specifically but the Firenation as a whole. Looking closer he noticed that she was swaying and her eyes were drooping. He placed a hand on her shoulder to help steady her and she hummed in question but didn't shake his hand off.

"You look tired, why don't you take a rest for a little wile?" he asked softly.

She shook her head and yawned again, her eyes dropping lower, "Can't," she mumbled, "too much work to be done . . . can't take a break now . . . have to make more paste and apply it . . ."

Zuko shook his head. She looked and sounded like she was going to fall asleep on her feet, which he hadn't thought possible before. He sighed; "If you show me how to make the paste and I do it then will you take a rest?" he didn't know why he was offering. He didn't know why he was being so nice to someone he had just randomly met. He _shouldn't_ be offering, but he was.

She perked up and nodded. Though she still looked like she was about to fall asleep she led him to one of the curtained off areas where row upon row of leaves and plants were laid out to dry.

"My name's Ila, what's yours?"

". . . Lee," Zuko replied with the first EarthKingdom name that he could think of.

Ila showed him which leaves needed to be crushed into pulp, what the names for each plant were, in what order they needed to be put together, and then sent him to work on his own wile she laid on the ground to take a nap. Five minutes later she was dead asleep.

As the quiet settled around him Zuko began to hum softly to himself. He found that he actually enjoyed doing this. The repetitive action of crushing the leaves soothed him just as much as meditation usually did, and before he knew it he had already made many batches of the paste.

After putting the last of his most recent batch into a bottle he peeked out the door and saw that it was sunset. His uncle would start to get worried about now. With a small smile and a glance at the sleeping Ila he placed the bottle on the shelf and slipped out, deciding to come back the next day and see if he could help any more.

He really liked learning how to help people, strangely enough.

0~o~0

They stayed for almost a month; each day Zuko went back to Ila's makeshift hospital to learn something new. By the end of his time in the little town Zuko knew how to make burn paste, spread it on burns, wrap wounds, treat cuts and stab injuries, set a broken bone, and take care of someone sick with high fever. He and Ila had grown close, but he knew that he would soon have to leave as it would be suspicious if he stayed in one place to long if he was looking for the avatar. He could not afford to have the Fire lord looking into what he was doing.

Zuko's uncle, Iroh, had also become suspicious of him. He was always trying to get a glance inside the bag that Zuko now always carried with him which was full of the leaves required to make several healing teas and pastes among other things. It was amusing to see his usually calm uncle so frustrated because he could not sate his curiosity.

Ila and the rest of the hospital staff had started to officially think of him as one of their own. It felt good to belong somewhere even if it was only for a short time. They threw a small good-by party for him with a bunch of teary farewells. Many of the regular patients had also come, saying that they were going to miss him and his fiery temper, which he had used on some of the stubborn ones more then once.

As the ship pulled away from the port and Zuko was once again dressed in the red and black robes of Firenation royalty, he could not help but feel a pain of sadness nestled deep inside of him. Maybe one day, when he came out as the Avatar, he would come back and visit his first true friends.

For that is what he considered them, friends. The Firenation may frown down on having connections with those of the lower society, but at that moment Prince Zuko could care less what the Firenation thought.

They were the ones who had banished him and sent him on an impossible quest, after all. He wasn't ready to forgive them of that, just yet.

* * *

**Firenation Names:**

***Ayumu – meaning: walk, dream**

***Rei – meaning: bell**

**EarthKingdom****Names:**

***Ila – meaning: earth**

**Spirit of the Wind**

***Anil – meaning: air**

**I hope you like the chapter. **

**I would also really appreciate some feedback!**

**And thank you to those who reviewed the other chapters. I will take your ideas into consideration and see which ones I can fit in, maybe all of them!**


	5. Mask of the Water Spirit

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

_Previously: _

_Agni sighed softly as he watched the New Avatar. The boy would have to be informed soon that he was not the only one, and Agni was not sure how he would act. The boy was strong, yes, but would he take the chance to go home and keep his secret? Or would he help Aang when the time came that he was broken free? He had seen that the boy would break free from his icy prison soon, but he could not see which direction things would go in after it happened. He closed his eyes and frowned. _

_"__Maybe there is another way."_

_"__Zuko's memories of his past life would have to be unlocked."_

_"__I will need to speak to Anil, the spirit of the wind. I know she doesn't like me, but I might be able to convince her if she knows who he used to be."_

**Hidden Secret**

"Speaking"

_"__Thinking"_

_Memories_

**_Letters/stories_**

**_Chapter 4_**

_The Mask of the Water Spirit_

_Or_

_Memories of a Different Life_

_He laughed, running through the tall stalks of grain with his arms thrown wide on either side of him. The wind rushes past him in sweeping waves, causing the tall yellow grass to roll like a stormy sea of gold. His eyes are a light brown with golden specks, Firenation eyes. His cloths are a faded red color with some black embroidery, and he looked to be around five years old. _

_In the distance his mother smiles from where she sits on the porch watching, knitting a small hat for when the cold season comes upon them. She has a kind smile, and laugh wrinkles stretch around her eyes. Her eyes are the same color as her son's and she laughs as he slips and falls down, head disappearing into the grain._

_He pops up again moments later, several broken stalks of golden grain tangled in his shoulder length hair. He hears his mother laughing at him and sticks his bottom lip out in a pout, only for some of the grain to fall from the stalk hanging just beneath the fringe of his hair and land on the wet lip. _

_"__Yuck!" he yelped and tried to spit out the small grain peaces without success. _

_His mother smiles softly again at him and calls for him to come back to the house. He does, still trying to pick the hard ovals of grain out of his mouth with his fingers. His mother goes inside the house and brings back a cup of water. He smiles and takes the cup, bringing it to his mouth. He drains half of the cup into his mouth and swishes it around before he spits it out on the ground, little ovals of grain going with it. He does this again to get out anything left over and hands the cup back to his mother._

_"__Thanks Mom!" he says, bouncing from foot to foot. He looks back out over the grain field and is about to run back out their when his mother taps him on the head. _

_"__Oh, no you don't. It's almost time for bed and your father will be home soon. If you want him to tell you a story tonight you have to be in your bed when he gets back, and do you really want to sleep with that grain in your hair?" she teased softly._

_The boy pouted but obediently sat at his mothers feet as she began to comb through his silky hair with her fingers. They sat in silence for several minutes as his mother wove the tangled grass from his dark black hair. She started to sing softly and the boy smiled as he closed his eyes and listened._

_"__Come little fire, don't go out, _

_Do not waver, do not pout. _

_Your light is a blessing to all the world, _

_So let your fire be unfurled._

_And when darkness clouds your hearth,_

_Fight it back with all your worth. _

_Be strong little fire, I am here,_

_When mother has got you there is nothing to fear._

_Come little fire, don't go out,_

_Do not waver, do not pout._

_Your light is a blessing to all the world,_

_So let your fire be unfurled."_

_The boy yawned softly, his eyes dropping just as the sun was dropping from the sky. His mother smiled softly and helped him up, guiding him to his room. He slipped into his small bed and she tucked him in. He had already forgotten about his father telling him a story. She tucked a small thread of black hair behind his ear as he snuggled into his pillow. _

_"__Goo'night Mom," he mumbled, his eyes closed and already half asleep._

_She smiled again and kissed him one last time on the forehead before she turned to leave._

_"__Good night to you too, my little Kuzon." _

_0~o~0_

_Ten year old Kuzon stands by his mother as they watch the soldiers march up to road to their home with narrowed eyes. Kuzon does not understand what is going on but he can see the fear in his mother's eyes and he fears too. The three soldiers draw to a stop in front of them and the leader steps off his scaly mount to stand in front of Kuzon's mother. The man has no expression on his face but his eyes just conceal disgust for having to speak with peasants. _

_He pulls out a scroll from one of his saddlebags and unrolls it. Clearing his throat the leader began to read, "Sekitan of the fifteenth division, husband of Natsumi, father of Kuzon, was killed on the fifth moon cycle of the year of the dragon in a battle with the EarthKingdom. He died honorably for his country. The General sends his regards for the death of Sekitan."_

_The leader of the group broke into a sneer as he handed the scroll to his mother, and then spat at her feet. Natsumi, Kuzon's mother, said nothing as the man turned and walked back to his mount. _

_"__Stupid peasants," he muttered, "Why can't we just ignore them like everyone else get to. They're not worth anything anyway."_

_Kuzon didn't know what the man meant, but he did understand that his mother and he had just been insulted. He felt the fire within him curl inside of him, ready to lash out at the person who dared to insult a Child of Fire. His hand curled into a fist and he was about to drop into a firebending stance when he felt the weight of his mother's hand on his shoulder. _

_Kuzon looked at his mother in confusion, but relaxed his stance. She had always said that they should fight for their rights, for their honor, if ever they needed to defend themselves. That man had just spat upon their ground, their honor. But Natsumi shook her head and looked back up to the soldiers as they turned away. After they were far enough away that their outlines became blurs she took her hand from Kuzon's shoulder and placed it on his back, leading him inside. _

_"__Why wouldn't you let me fight them, mother?" he asked in bewilderment._

_Natsumi shook her head and sighed softly. She sat on her wooden chair and threaded her hands into her hair, one hand still clutching the scroll. She was silent for several moments before a soft, almost inaudible sob made it passed her lips. Kuzon's eyes grew wide. He had never seen his mother cry, not even when his father had left. _

_"__Mother?" he asked softly, "Are you ok?"_

_His mother reached out to him and pulled him into her embrace as she continued to sob into his shoulder. Shivers wracked her small frame and Kuzon wrapped his arms around her awkwardly. He didn't understand what was going on. Why was his mother crying? Did this have something to do with why his father went away? He had heard the soldiers mention something about his father._

_"__Oh, Kuzon, my little dragon," she said pulling herself away and placing both of her hands on his shoulders at arms length, looking him up and down with tear wet eyes, "I have already lost Sekitan, I will not loose you too."_

_"__Loose me? But Mother, I would never leave you," Kuzon cried out in panic._

_Natsumi stared at him for several moments before letting out another small sob and gesturing for him to sit down in the chair opposite. Kuzon did as asked and looked expectantly at his mother. There were few things that she had kept from him, but he knew that it had been to protect him._

_"__Kuzon," she started and then paused, turning her face to the window so she was not looking at him, "when your father and I first found out that you were a firebender we knew that things would never be normal. _

_"__As a Child of Fire you would have been taken to be trained at an early age for the army. You would have been taken from us and placed in a training camp where other firebenders from poor families were sent. To the Firenation, you would have been nothing but a weapon of war._

_"__Your father and I used to work near the capital city. When we found you playing with the fire and it moving where your hand went we knew we could not stay. The closer we were to the capital the easier it would be to find out what you were. We hid your bending as best we could and eventually were able to move out here. _

_"__Your father used to work with other firebenders and knew some of what they did. He taught you what he learned. Then the army came, requesting men for the war that Fire Lord Sozin had started. Your father had to leave or risk you being discovered."_

_Natsumi placed her head in her hands again with another quiet sob, "What the soldiers that came today were saying was . . . your father is not coming back, Kuzon."_

_Kuzon stared at his mother, suddenly fearful. His mother couldn't be saying . . . Father had promised to come back!_

_"__He's dead."_

_0~o~0_

_"__Hurry, Kuzon," his mother shook him awake and shoved a bag in his hands, "We have to run."_

_Kuzon got up, clutching the bag and rubbing his eyes. "Mother? What's going on? Why are you awake when it's in the middle of the night?"_

_His mother shook her head, but when she looked in his eyes he could see the deep rooted fear shinning just beneath the surface._

_"__They're coming."_

_That was all she had to say. Kuzon knew exactly who 'they' were. A few years ago his mother had explained what happened to families with a firebending child who ran instead of handing the child over. Just days ago Kuzon had gotten angry and his fire had reacted. He had been near the neighboring farm when it had happened but he had thought that no one had seen._

_He had been wrong. _

_The soldiers were coming._

_0~o~0_

_His mother sat across from the man at the Pie Sho table and he smile. _

_"__Would you care for a game, my lady?" he asked politely._

_Kuzon was confused. What was his mother doing? They didn't have enough money to gamble, and he had never even seen his mother play this game before, did she even know how? He was about to point this out when his mother nodded. _

_"__I would love to play a game."_

_The man smiled kindly and swept his hand over the board, "The guest has the first move."_

_His mother examined the tiles before she grabbed one with a single white lotus painted on it. She placed the tile in the center of the board and smiled up at the man. The man's eyes widened but his smile didn't dim in the slightest, in fact, it seemed to only get brighter. _

_Together they began to place tiles seemingly at random. Kuzon frowned as he watched them. Their hands few over the board and it seemed almost as if they were not even thinking about strategy. When the tiles were all gone they both pulled back, revealing a white lotus blossom formed out of the tiles were laid, the white lotus tile sitting proudly in the center. _

_"__I see that you follow the ancient ways," he said, bowing slightly with his hands clasped together, fingers pointed upward. Kuzon frowned at this. It was not the standard Firenation bow._

_"__But those that do will always find a friend," his mother returned the unusual bow._

_"__Welcome, sister. What is it that you need? I am not often approached by another member this far away from the capital."_

_Kuzon's mother closed her eyes and sighed softly, "I seek shelter for me and my son. He does not know about our order and we were recently driven from our home when it was found out that my son is a bender."_

_A knowing, sad look appeared in the man's eyes and he looked around the small tavern, "Come," he said softly leading them out the back entrance, "It is not safe to speak here."_

_0~o~0_

_Kuzon picked up the mask that had fallen off of the wall of their new home with a frown. It was a deep blue with white outlines and horns. He traced his fingers over it, wondering what it was for._

_"__That is said to be the mask of a water spirit," a voice behind him startled Kuzon and he spun around in a crouch, the mask still in his hand. _

_The man behind him was not as old as the one his mother had spoken to, but he was older then his father had been. The man looked up and down Kuzon's form with a frown. Suddenly a stick seemed to appear in his hand and he began pushing Kuzon's limbs into different places muttering to himself as he walked around the boy._

_Kuzon gave the crazy man a startled look and was about to start backing away when the man spoke again._

_"__Your form is all wrong. Your feet are too close together, your back is too stiff. You are holding your arms in a bad position."_

_Sputtering Kuzon yelped, "W-what? What are you talking about?"_

_The man smiled like he was talking to a small child, a slightly insane gleam in his eyes._

_"__Why, I'm going to teach you how to use a pair of Dao swords, of course!"_

_0~o~0_

_Kuzon took a deep breath, a sword held in each hand and a black blindfold covering his eyes. He strained his ears, listening for any movement: the shuffling of cloth, the soft poof of a foot on dirt, or the sound of a sword swinging through the air, displacing it. His skin pricked and he forced himself not to twitch as he waited, listening. _

_There! Kuzon ducked the blade that came from his right and went into a roll. When he came back up again he brought up his swords in a cross to block the upper sword and spun his body out of the way of the lower, kicking out at his opponent as he did so._

_There was a quick shuffling as his attacker stumbled back to avoid the blow and Kuzon went on the offensive, swinging his two swords in exact timing with each other. One sword swung forward wile the other came up to block. Spin to avoid the side cut. Duck and kick out with left foot. Dive and roll to the left, the attacker is to close. Bring the swords up to meet another blade. The double ringing means it was a success, but one ring means the other sword is coming from the side. Roll._

_Kuzon danced, attacking and defending, using what he knew of his surroundings to avoid and deflect as much as he could. _

_The duel ended with Kuzon backed against the wall, both of his swords knocked out of his hands, and a blade at his neck. The blindfold was removed, as was the blade._

_Master Ichi stood before Kuzon with his too wide grin and held his hand out to help the fifteen year old boy up. They had been training together for almost a year since Kuzon had moved here. Though he had tried to tell Master Ichi that he was a firebender and did not need to learn the master swordsman would not take no for an answer. _

_"__You say you are a bender? You know how to defend yourself from any attack? What about on the day of Black Sun? What then?" the man had said smugly, and when Kuzon had tried to fight him with fire the old man had soundly beaten him. _

_So Kuzon had started training and to his surprise he really enjoyed it. There was a feeling of peacefulness when swinging the blade in graceful arcs. Master Ichi had smiled at him proudly when he had tried to explain it. The blindfold was his final test to see how far he had gotten. _

_Master Ichi sat down on the mat and Kuzon followed, thankfully drinking from the water-skin that was handed to him. When he was done he saw that Master Ichi was holding the mask that Kuzon had knocked off of the wall that very first time they had met. Kuzon absentmindedly wondered why the mask had never been put back up on the wall._

_Master Ichi saw Kuzon looking at the mask and smiled. "I used to wear this mask, you know," he murmured softly in a much different tone than he normally used._

_Kuzon frowned. He had thought that the mask was just a decoration. What would the master swordsman do with a little old mask? There were no carnivals here, being as it was so high up in the mountains, so there was really no use to it._

_"__What did you use it for?" Kuzon asked curiously as he gazed at the mask. _

_Master Ichi sighed and let his finger trace the outlines on the face. "Let me tell you a story . . ."_

* * *

**_The Beginning_**

**_A long time ago a young boy and his family, who were simple farmers with no bending abilities to speak of, live in the grassy planes of the northern islands._**

**_They were not a well known family and for the most part were left in peace. The boy had three siblings, two sisters and a younger brother who all helped to farm the many fields of land._**

**_One year, when the boy was almost thirteen, a greedy lord came to the northern islands, looking for a place to settle and build his home. When he saw the great amount of land that the boy's family owned he offered to buy it for much less than the land was worth. The family refused and in anger the greedy lord burned the boy's house and sent his soldiers after the family. _**

**_The boy was separated from the rest of his family when they were caught, he just managing to escape. In desperation the boy wandered the islands, running from the soldiers and looking for a master to teach him the ways of the sword so that he might one day return to save his family from the greedy lord._**

**_He found his teacher in an old water tribe man who had traveled many places and wielded two identical broadswords which he called the Dual Dao. The man's name was Iluq. He agreed to train the boy on the condition that he would only use his new skills for good and when the time came to pass on his training and knowledge to his own apprentice._**

**_Years passed and the apprentice grew into a great swordsman. When the time came that Iluq could teach the boy no more he knew it was time to leave. Before he left however, Iluq sat him down and gave him a mask. The mask was a carving of a spirit the water tribes called Tonrar. With its deep blue and white coloring and fangs it was a truly terrifying sight. _**

**_The boy thanked his master and left wearing the mask to hide his identity from any who sought him harm. He eventually returned to his home land and fought the greedy lord. By this time the boy was not a boy anymore but a man. He had gained a reputation among the southern islands for being a ruthless vigilante. _**

**_After driving the greedy lord off and ensuring that he would never return. He then searched for his family in the depths of the lord's dungeons, but could not find them. Years later he heard tale of a two girls and a boy who were living on their own in the woods just outside of the boundaries. When the boy went to see if the rumors were true he found his siblings. _**

**_They told him how they had been able to escape but had been too afraid to return for their parents. They had made a life for themselves in the woods, and others had joined them. The boy found that he had been made an uncle by his oldest sister who had married a young man who had run away from his father. He loved his nephew with all his heart, just as he loved the rest of his family, but he had been traveling for far too long. _**

**_He stayed for a few years in the forest, but soon the restlessness overcame him and he had to move on. He had never told his family about his mask or what he had done in the time that they had been separated, and they never asked, understanding that some things just could not be said. They knew that he needed to travel, to discover new places. They let him go and the young man traveled once more, wearing the mask and protecting the people. _**

**_Years passed and the boy grew old and wise. When his adventures became too much for his old bones he retreated back to where his old master had lived. Iluq was gone, but the place he had created was still there. The man settled down and waited, until one day, a confused young lady stumbled along the path in the mountains and followed it to his home._**

**_The man smiled and welcomed her, agreeing to teach her, just as he had been taught before her. In the end of her training he gave her the mask and told her what it symbolized, making her promise to give it to her own apprentice when the time came. _**

**_And so she left, only to return many years later to find her master gone but the home still intact. She too waited until another stumbled in, and welcomed them, doing as her master before her, showing them the way of the blade and the importance of protecting those who could not protect themselves. _**

**_The cycle continued. Master to apprentice the story was told and the mask was passed, continuing the legacy of the masked vigilante who over time came to be known as The Blue Spirit. _**

* * *

_"__And so you see, this mask is much more than it seems," Ichi finished, looking up from the mask to the astonished Kuzon._

_"__It-you-what-I-"_

_Ichi chucked at Kuzon's stumbling and handed the mask over. Thrusting it into Kuzon's shaking hands, "It's yours now, you know."_

_Kuzon swallowed and nodded, a determined glint appearing in his eyes. He stood and bowed to Ichi._

_"__I am honored that you should choose me for this. Thank you."_

_Ichi smiled, "It is you who have honored me, Blue Spirit."_

_0~o~0_

_Kuzon rubbed his mount's nose with a small smile. She was a flightless dragon. He had found her wounded in one of the traps in the mountains that he was traveling through and had saved her. She had stuck with him ever since and he had named her Akane, for her deep red scales._

_He looked around, trying to find a good place to camp for the night when he heard a loud laugh in the forest to his left. Frowning he followed the noise until he came to a stream where he found a boy only about twelve years old. Kuzon himself was only about sixteen._

_The boy was bald with yellow and red clothing. Though he had not traveled very far in his wanderings so far Kuzon could tell that the boy was an Air Nomad. The boy was currently trying to fill up a large pot with water from the stream but was having a hard time because the flying bison, which Kuzon assumed was the boy's, kept nudging him and making him fall into the water._

_The flying bison did it again, only a little harder than before and the boy tumbled in headfirst. He came up sputtering with the pot over his head._

_"__Appa!" the boy whined._

_Kuzon chuckled and decided to ask if the boy needed any help._

_"__Are you trying to catch fish with that pot? The water is really cold this time of year and if you don't get out soon you'll freeze your toes off."_

_And there goes the sarcasm he picked up from Ichi._

_The boy turned to where Kuzon was sitting with his mouth agape. Kuzon grinned from where he was sitting on a large rock, legs folded under him. _

_"__You've been watching me this entire time?" the boy screeched._

_Kuzon's eyes twinkled mischievously, "Maybe. My name's Kuzon. What's yours, Airbender?"_

_The boy shook his head, forcing a few remaining drops to vacate their space on his scalp, "Aang."_

_0~o~0_

_Kuzon and Aang laughed as they sprinted away from the old, confused, pie covered monks. They collapsed in Aang's room, still laughing. _

_After Kuzon had found Aang in the woods, he had his mentor had invited him to visit the air temple that they lived in. Kuzon had been reluctant but Aang had convinced him. He and Aang had become close friends over the short months that they had been together and Kuzon could not help but wish that it would last longer._

_He knew that he would have to leave soon, though. He was the Blue Spirit. He had to protect the people, and he could not do it from here. That didn't stop him from wishing, though. _

_0~o~0_

_"__Aang is the Avatar. They told him too early and were going to force him away from me for training," Monk Gyatso said, "I was able to convince them that it was a bad idea but . . ."_

_"__But Aang had already run away."_

_0~o~0_

_"__Aang! Aang, where are you!" Kuzon shouted, stumbling against the storm. Aang's flying bison had been last seen flying south and Kuzon had volunteered to go look for him. Aang was his best friend, he would not let anything happen to him if he could help it. _

_He wished he had taken extra clothing though._

_The ship that he had taken to get here had been frozen in ice once the storm descended upon them. Kuzon had gone on ahead, braving the storm. If a Firenation ship was having trouble that what would happen to a boy riding a flying bison in the sky?_

_Kuzon knew that he was in trouble. His thoughts were starting to become jumbled and when he looked back, the footprints he could see were not moving in a straight line, but he could not bring himself to care. Aang was still out there._

_He kept forging on, a hand held up to his unprotected face to shield it from most of the wind and snow. His voice grew weaker the longer he shouted until it was no more then a whisper that was whipped away the moment it passed his frozen, blue lips. _

_Kuzon was not sure when he had stopped walking, but right now he was lying down, the snow cradling his body as he looked up at the endless white of the sky. His breath puffed out of his mouth a few more times as he struggled to bring the cold, frigid air into his deprived lungs. He could not feel his arms or his legs, or really anything to tell the truth. Why was he out here again? Where was all this snow coming from? There was no snow in the Firenation._

_Wait, what was the Firenation?_

_Out of the snow and wind an old lady appeared, frowning at him as she crouched down. She was wearing nothing but a long yellow dress and thin over cloak. Kuzon wondered why she was not freezing and if he should offer his own fur lined cloak to her. _

_She watched him as he breathed, each breath taking longer to bring in and then let out again. His blank eyes stared out at her. _

_"__Who are you looking for," she asked. _

_He was looking for someone? Oh, yes. The Airbender, his friend, Aang, he was looking for Aang. He could tell that she already knew the answer, but he struggled to reply anyway. _

_"__A-A-Aang," he struggled between breaths. The blackness was closing in on him, "P-please, h-help h-him."_

_A cold hand was placed on his forehead and her frown softened. _

_"__Maybe Agni was right about you," she murmured. She hesitated for a moment before leaning down and placing a kiss on his brow and pulling back so that she was standing. _

_The blackness closed over him but he could still hear her final words._

_"__You are Kuzon, master swordsman and the Blue Spirit, friend of the Avatar. You are Zuko, new Avatar and banished prince of the Firenation. You are both. You are one and the same. _Remember."

0~o~0

Zuko jerked awake with a start, his hand reaching in front of him, grasping at thin air. His eyes were wide and his breath was coming out in short gasps. On his bedside table a blue mask that had not been there before was propped up. Under it was a paper with the symbol of air etched on it in ash.

". . . Aang," Zuko whispered the name of his long lost friend, of _Kuzon's_ friend.

A soft sob escaped his lips and he curled up on his side, shivering as the pain of loss hit him harder.

Aang was gone.

And he was the Avatar now.

* * *

**Firenation Names**

**Akane – deep red**

**Natsumi – summer beautiful**

**Sekitan – coal**

**Ichi – one**

**Water Tribe Names**

**Iluq – frost**

**Tonrar – devil, ghost, spirit**

**I hope you liked it. I might not get another chapter up for a week or two because I'm going to be traveling and the place I'm traveling too doesn't allow technology of any kind. Not even cell phones. **


	6. The Forty-first Division

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

**Thank you to all who reviewed. I really appreciate your opinions and ideas for how this story should go. **

**Just to clear up any confusion that you might have later, Aang is still alive. He is still the original Avatar. Zuko is a mortal blessed by the spirits to be ****_an_****Avatar, not ****_the _****Avatar. Also, because he is the first in his cycle he has a closer connection to the spirits than Aang does, and they are more willing to speak and listen to him.**

**Oh, and Aang will be broken from the iceberg at some point. That won't happen for a wile though. This chapter is to just fill in some things and maybe leave hints of what is to come.**

**Read and review!**

**- Goldenbrook15**

_Previously:_

_Zuko jerked awake with a start, his hand reaching in front of him, grasping at thin air. His eyes were wide and his breath was coming out in short gasps. On his bedside table a blue mask that had not been there before was propped up. Under it was a paper with the symbol of air etched on it in ash. _

_"__. . . Aang," Zuko whispered the name of his long lost friend, of Kuzon's friend. _

_A soft sob escaped his lips and he curled up on his side, shivering as the pain of loss hit him harder._

_Aang was gone._

_And he was the Avatar now._

**Hidden Secret**

"Speaking"

_"__Thinking"_

_Memories_

**_Letters/stories_**

**_Chapter 6_**

_The Forty-first Division_

After their disappearance, the forty-first division had broken up. Each group was compiled of about five to seven men with at least one firebender in it. Captain Takumi knew that they were too easy to spot in a large group and even dressing in earth kingdom cloths would not change the fact that they were part of an army. Even wandering among the citizens was not an option. Their skin was too pale and their eyes still had that hint of Firenation gold in it. Maybe one or two people would go unnoticed, but not a whole group.

Captain Takumi knew that by siding with the prince who had stood up for them that they had just separated themselves from the Firenation. The prince was banished, and by showing loyalty to the prince they were, in essence, banished as well. He knew that the prince was out there somewhere, most likely in the EarthKingdom as he could not enter Firenation waters until the banishment was lifted. He also knew that if they could find him, the forty-first division would pledge their loyalty unwaveringly. The prince had saved them from walking into their own death by speaking up for them, and they wanted to return the favor.

So they had split up, not only to avoid being found by both the Firenation and the Earth Kingdom, but also to cover more ground in looking for the prince; each group settling somewhere different. Every couple days reports were sent to their captain, Takumi, about what was happening in that area. Over the next few months Takumi began to realize the extent of what the Firenation was doing to the world. Villages were burned to the ground without thought, children were torn from their parents and forced to leave, and any survivors had to live under the cruelty of the Firenation guards that were left behind.

Knowing that they were already banished by siding with the prince and were technically not part of the Firenation anymore, Takumi decided that they would protect the people of the EarthKingdom from Firenation tyranny. His only worry was being recognized.

It was his second in command who gave the solution.

He suggested that they all wear clothing that looked like their surroundings to blend in better. They were already hiding from other people, now they only had to take it a step further. He explained that if they wore clothing that matched their surroundings, cloth masks, and left before those that they rescued could question them, no one would find out where they were from.

Takumi sent out the idea to the rest of the groups and news arrived not one week later heard about a village that was burned down, his men helping ten survivors get away from the firebenders. This group had settled in the forest near the town and had begun to live among the trees. After seeing the message about helping the EarthKingdom people they had dressed in black and green cloaks with black cloth masks that covered the bottom half of their face to help evacuate the town when it was attacked.

More reports started pouring in after that first of similar things happening. Each group had found a place to settle and protect, making their home in the wilderness. Some settled near the coast, hoping that the prince would sail into one of their ports. Others moved into the mountains for protection in case the Firenation came upon them. Still others moved into the forests, living in the trees which they hollowed out, hidden homes amongst the vast green and brown.

Takumi and his group, the base of their operation, moved into the desert, where they learned to use the heat of the sand to move it where they wanted. They became known as sandbenders to those who lived near and in the desert, which was fine with them. Others joined them, earthbenders who had no where else to go. They learned how to bend the sand as well, but never learned the secrets of the original tribe that had lived in the waterless place.

Over time, the refugees who had been saved by this mysterious group found others like them. They all told a similar story about the masked men who had saved them. The men who, afterward, would disappear back where they came from. It was rare, they said, to encounter them twice. You don't find them, they find you.

Hidden amongst the crowds in a small town on the way to Ba Sing Se and listening to the whispers, a single man smiled and slipped away to report to Takumi.

They had become known as the Hidden People.

0~o~0

The fire burned and burned, eating at anything in its path. The small eleven year old yelled as he charged at the firebenders again, swinging his two hooked swords in an effort to hurt the firebenders. Tears ran down his cheeks as he thought about his parents who were now just two piles of ash within their burning house where they had been trapped.

The firebenders laughed at the boy's effort and knocked him down. The leader sneered down at the boy who was sprawled at his feet. The boy looked up with hatred in his eyes refusing to give into fear. The firebenders eyes glinted and his sneer turned into a smirk.

"Looks like you need to be taught a lesson about respecting your betters, boy," he spat and razed his hand. Fire crackled in his hand before being thrown at the boy.

The boy closed his eyes, knowing that there was no way that he could dodge the blast. The heat was sent swirling toward him, only to stop with a hiss of steam. The boy opened his eyes in surprise and saw a cloaked man standing over him with a now empty bucket at his side. He could not see the man's face as he was turned away, facing the firebender who had been about to kill him.

The firebender growled and he and the cloaked man engaged in a ferocious battle of steal and fire. Two more firebenders joined in as they tried to take the mystery man down. The man was not giving up though. He was weaving in and out of their fire blasts like an expert.

The boy almost gave a startled yelp when he felt arms wrap around him and lift him up, but he quieted when he saw another cloaked person pulling him away from the fight. He ran with the masked man until they came too a clearing where others from the town were gathered. More cloaked men were standing around guarding the villagers.

The man who had saved the boy slipped from the shadows and into the clearing. No one spoke as they waited for something to happen next. As the night went on the villagers one by one began to drop off in sleep, and the cloaked strangers disappeared back into the forest from whence they came, never to be seen again unless they wanted you too. The boy looked back in the way of the burning town with a hate filled gaze, promising himself that he would get revenge one day.

One day the Firenation would pay.

He never noticed how his rescuers had skin paler than normal or how their eyes had a hint of gold in them, and no matter how hard he searched, he never found them again.

The boy's name was Jet.

0~o~0

A figure dressed all in black crouched atop a rooftop, unseen by those passing below. No one expected someone to be on the rooftops, after all. The figure was small, not fully grown. His face was showing and a scar stretched across one eye. In his hands he clenched a blue mask, staring down at it with half lidded golden eyes.

He was prince Zuko, banished prince of the Firenation.

He was also the reincarnation of Kuzon, who had been the final Blue Spirit.

Zuko had all of Kuzon's memories. He knew that Kuzon didn't have time to train an apprentice before his death. With Kuzon, the Blue Spirit had died, lost among the ice and snow of the South Pole. The legend of the Blue Spirit was forgotten and changed; in some places it was completely lost.

But Zuko was Kuzon. This also meant that he was the Blue Spirit too. It was his responsibility to up root corrupt leaders and keep the people safe. As the Avatar he would have to do something similar.

_"I am a banished prince. An outcast from my own home . . ."_

_"I am Kuzon, the Firenation peasant who became the Blue Sprit and was friends with the unknowing Avatar Aang . . ."_

_"I am Zuko, the new Avatar, who must keep myself a secret in fear for my life . . ."_

_"I am a child with the memories of a man twice my age . . ."_

_"I am a teenager with the weight of the world on my unwilling shoulders and no one to turn too . . ."_

_"But I am me." _

With a small, tired smile, Zuko pulled the mask to his face and tied it on in the back with the two black ribbons. He stood up silently, watching the darkening sky with determination through the eye holes in his mask.

The Blue Spirit was alive again.

**Review!**

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**_Please? _****I will take any ideas into consideration as long as it fits my original plot!**

**The next chapter will be longer. I am sorry for how short this chapter is. **


	7. Good-by

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

**I want to thank everyone who reviewed. It's nice to know that someone likes my story. **

* * *

_Previously: _

_With a small, tired smile, Zuko pulled the mask to his face and tied it on in the back with the two black ribbons. He stood up silently, watching the darkening sky with determination through the eye holes in his mask._

_The Blue Spirit was alive again. _

**Hidden Secret**

"Speaking"

_"__Thinking"_

_Memories_

**_Letters_**

**_Chapter 7_**

_Good-by_

It had been almost a year since his banishment and Zuko knew that he had changed a lot in that time. Ignoring his uncle's insistence to shave most of his hair off Zuko had let it grow longer. His scar was a permanent reminder of who he was and what he was to do.

He had thought long and hard after he remembered his life as Kuzon, and even this made him wonder, because wasn't the Avatar supposed to be reincarnated every life time and yet he himself was not. Maybe this was just a myth. Every time his mind wandered back to Aang he could not help but feel a stab of pain at his lost friend. It brought a question to mind that he was not sure the answer, though. The cycle would have gone to water and then earth before it reached fire, so did that mean that there were two other Avatars before him? How did the Firenation not find them or at least hear of them?

It plagued his mind, and made him wonder. It would be almost impossible to hide the Avatar anywhere without the people finding out and using them. If anyone from the earth or water people found out the Avatar was among them then they would have most certainly raised them to be a weapon against the Firenation, but the people of fire had heard not even a whisper of this happening.

This brought him back to another question. He was fire. Air came after fire, but there were no Air Nomads left to teach him. The Firenation had seen to that. In this last year Zuko had gone around to all of the Air Temples in hopes of finding some survivors that might be about to guide him in the way of air, but all he had found were scattered skeletons and burnt out libraries.

It pained him to know that many of those skeletons that he could see lying around used to be friends of his back when he was Kuzon.

For an entire year he had searched, but he knew that his time on this ship was coming to an end. He had been told of an airbender stronghold placed deep within the foggy swamp back in his days as Kuzon; though at the time it had seemed more of a myth than truth. Now, however, he was willing to try.

The foggy swamp was inland, though, where the ship could not reach. Zuko knew that his uncle would follow him if he told anyone that he was leaving. It was just something that his uncle would do, whether Zuko wanted him to or not. So here he was, several peaces of paper scattered around him crumbled into balls and a single flat sheet in front of him.

Zuko scratched the last few words onto the page and read through it. A single tear slipped out of the corner of his eye as he thought about what he was about to do. His uncle had always been there for him when he could be, but Zuko knew that he had to do this alone. He didn't know what his uncle would think of him being the Avatar. Would Iroh help him learn all of the elements, or would he turn the ship around and send them straight back to the Firenation because he was more loyal to the people of fire than he was to his own family? He really did not know, but he had no choice.

He was leaving.

His bag was already packed with the essentials. Two water skins, several bags of food, a hidden pouch filled with as many gold, silver, and bronze pieces from every country that should last him around a year and a half if he was careful. He also had three pares of cloths, one Earth Kingdom made, the second was similar to the first but in browns and not greens, and the last was a strong black suit that blended nicely with the shadows. In his other bag, hidden under all of his herbs and medical wraps, a grinning blue mask was buried.

Currently he wore a pare of dark, charcoal grey cloths. Over his shoulder, strapped diagonally across his body, two identical swords rested against each other in their sheath. His hands were covered in black gloves and on his feet he wore a pare of good quality boots.

Reading through the letter one more time he deemed it acceptable and sighed. Zuko quickly gathered all of the other failed drafts and burned them. When he had everything together and his bags resting securely over his shoulders, he placed the last letter on his pillow, knowing that his uncle would see it come morning when he came in to check on him.

Zuko turned to the door and his hand rested on the handle out. Everything was still for a moment, and Zuko closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Gathering his resolve he turned the handle and slipped out the door, down the hall, and out into the starry night unseen.

He didn't look back.

0~o~0

The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon when Iroh knocked on his nephew's door. He had become worried about his nephew in the last few months. It had seemed like overnight something had happened and he had changed. He became quieter than he was before, which meant that it was rare to hear him speak at all.

Iroh also knew about his nephew's nighttime wanderings, and though he often wondered where he nephew went at such a late hour he never confronted him about it. His nephew was under a lot of stress. The Avatar had not been seen in over a hundred years and Iroh knew that finding him or her would be near impossible. It still worried him through.

He knew that his nephew did not know he knew, and it was true that he had never seen him sneak on or off. The only reason he had discovered it was because he had gone to check on his nephew in the night, only to find Zuko gone and the bed unused. He had only discovered this a short wile ago and he wondered just how long Zuko had been doing it . . . and how.

Iroh knocked again when he did not receive an answer to the first and waited. His brow furrowed in worry after a few moments of silence. His nephew was a light sleeper and always was awake by this time doing one thing or another, and yet there was no sound.

Forgoing the third knock in his worry Iroh turned the handle and walked in. The first he noticed was that the two Dao blades that usually hung on the wall were gone. He had never really taken notice that they were there before but now that they were gone he wondered how they had gotten there, for he had never bought such a thing as them and nether had Zuko, as far as he knew.

The second thing that was out of place was the _emptiness_ of the room. Both of Zuko's bags were gone, his traveling bag and the bag that Iroh had always wanted to look inside. The wardrobe was open and when Iroh looked inside, all of Zuko's cloths were there.

And that was the problem. _All _of the cloths that Zuko had brought with him from the Firenation were still sitting in this wardrobe. A feeling of panic bubbled up in Iroh's chest. What was going on?

Finally he went over to the bed and sat down, his head in his hands. What had happened to his nephew? The crinkling of paper brought Iroh's attention to the paper at the top of the bed. Frowning Iroh picked it up and began to read.

By the end a single tear dripped out of the corner of his eye and Iroh shot up, his short stature straight and determined. He called out to the captain as he left the cabin, the letter still clutched in his hand. Captain Jee glanced over to Iroh as he came in and straightened. He had not seen Iroh this determined since the end of the siege of Ba Sing Se.

"My nephew has gone inland. I am going after him. Keep this ship on the search for the Avatar so that the Fire Lord does not suspect that his son is gone," Iroh commanded.

Captain Jee nodded in understanding as he watched Iroh disappear back into the hall, no doubt to pack for tracking his nephew.

0~o~0

**Uncle Iroh,**

**In all the years that I have known you, you have been more of a father to me than my real father. That is why, when it comes to writing this, my heart breaks in despair.**

**You have put up with me for a long time. You may think that you are finally coming to know me, and you may be right, but you don't know everything. I carry a secret with me that endangers my life should anyone find out. I have often debated telling you over this last year, but I know I can not. I can not tell anyone. This burden is mine and mine alone that I must carry. **

**It is because of this secret that I must leave. For years you may have thought that I have been searching for the Avatar, but that is not true. I have been planning what I will do next. Being banished makes it both safer and indefinitely more dangerous for me at the same time. I would have told you, but honestly I do not know how you would react. **

**This is why I have chosen to leave, to find my own path in this world of destruction and pain. I know you care for me but I ask you to please not try and find me. If you found my secret, it would put me in even more danger. I know this request will most likely go unheeded, but I had to ask anyway.**

**I have always loved you like a son loves a father. I am grateful that you have taken care of me these past few months. I hope you do not hate me for running away, but it is something that must be done to protect both my life and many others. **

**Your Nephew,**

**Zuko **

0~o~0

The ringing of metal on metal drew Zuko's attention from where he was watching the path. If he had been a dog his ears would have been twitching as he tried to locate where it was coming from. Once he had determined that the sound of fighting was coming from a little way up ahead Zuko frowned and set down his pack. It had been almost a full week since he had left his uncle and his ship and so far he had run into three packs of bandits seeking easy prey in the lone, seemingly weaponless traveler. It wasn't until he had pulled his Dual Dao from his hidden sheath that they realized their mistake.

This was the first time, however, that he had come upon the bandits attacking someone else.

Securing his hat so that it would not come off and expose his eye color Zuko swiftly repositioned his blades to be in easy reach and slipped into the forest on the side of the road. A few short yards up and around the bend he came across a merchant's wagon holding two passengers and the merchant's goods. Both of them were women, though one looked to be the other's daughter.

On the other side of the cart two boys were fighting off four bandits and although they were holding their own Zuko had been in enough fights to know that they bandits were just playing with them. This was also supported by the fact that several more bandits were a short distance away laughing wile the watched the boys struggle.

After a few short moments Zuko noticed what he had mistaken for a rock on the road was actually a man, probably the boys' father. The man was still and a small puddle of red was pooling out from what was most likely a dagger wound. Zuko growled angrily.

Assessing the situation Zuko decided to take out the watching bandits who were laughing. They were an easy target and were most likely not expecting an attack from an outside source. He would take them out first so that they didn't get in the way when he went after the ones attacking the boys.

He slipped easily across the road, unseen in his dark cloths that blended in with the dusk. Once he was near the bandit closest to the trees he pulled his swords silently and tipped his hat low over his face. Darting forward he slammed the hilt of one of his swords into the back of the bandits head and the bandit fell without a sound.

One down, about nine more to go.

The second and third were standing closer together and when he slammed the sword into the second's head the third turned to see what the movement was only to get a foot in the gut and a knee in the face. The third one fell with a thump and the other watching bandits turned to see what the commotion was. When they saw Zuko with his hat pulled low and his two gleaming swords hovering at his sides with three of their comrades sprawled upon the ground around him they hesitated in surprise. After all, a lone stranger with two swords dressed like a refugee was usually never seen around these parts, especially one that could take out their comrades with nary a sound.

Unknown to Zuko all of these bandits had been warned not to attack a stranger who wore a hat, peasant clothing, and walked silently. Each had been told about other groups in the area who had attacked a seemingly harmless wanderer only to get a demon in human skin whose claws were two identical swords that came from out of nowhere. They said that when he fought, it was almost like he was dancing, letting the bandits hit each other as he danced in between them, slashing here and there to egg them on. The thing that scared them the most was that he was never the one to inflict the killing blow, and yet whenever he fought few were left alive.

Now, here he was. Basmi, they called him, the hidden warrior.

Zuko knew none of their thoughts. He did not know that already he was a legend in the short time he had left his ship and that even now people feared him. If he had known their thoughts, he might have done something different. As it was, as soon as the remaining bandits saw him he dashed toward them on light and silent feet.

The one farthest from him screamed, a high, humiliating scream that was quickly cut off when Zuko spun and elbowed him in the face, knocking him unconscious, before turning back to his battle with the other two left. The scream alerted there comrades though, who broke off their own fight with the two boys to come help.

The boys were shoved backward against the cart and turned to look with wide eyes at the man who was saving them. Zuko danced among the swarm, a laugh bubbling up in his throat as he remembered doing something similar as the Blue Spirit in his past life. As Kuzon, this is what he was trained for, taking out multiple targets at once without once getting hit. That is how the Blue Spirit fought.

When the last man was standing not moments later he glanced around at his fallen comrades in surprise and fear. This was the leader of the group. He had come out here for an easy job but now he feared for his life. Anger overtaking logic he charged the man who had taken out all of his men. Zuko waited, both his swords razed in the block position and, strangely enough, without a speck of red on them. At the last moment Zuko spun to the side and used his momentum to slam the flat of his blade into the back of the bandits head, causing him to crumble unconscious.

When the silence settled Zuko heard a muffled sob and turned toward the small family that he had saved. Though the fight had only taken a few minutes Zuko knew that he would have to work fast if he was going to save the man. Quickly he sheathed his swords and stepped a little way into the woods to retrieve his bag which he brought back with him and stepped toward the man.

The two boys stepped in front of him, barring his path with shaking swords. Behind them Zuko could see what he assumed was the man's wife and daughter hunched over the still form that he could tell was alive by the slight rise and fall of the man's chest. He sighed irritably. He had just saved their lives, and they were still afraid of him?

Dumb question, of course they would be afraid, he just took on a pack of bandits and came out on top. He would be weary of someone who could do that too.

"I can help," he said in a soft voice, barely above a whisper but all of them heard it. He reached into his bag and pulled out one of the plants used to clot the blood so that it would scab over quicker and showed them.

The mother looked up with tear streaked eyes and Zuko could see the inner struggle. He knew that she knew her husband needed help or it was likely that he would die soon, and the nearest town was two days away. He would never make it that far and they didn't look like they were carrying any medicines.

"H-how could you help, y-you just fought! What could you do, the last I checked warriors weren't healers!" the boy on the left said shakily.

Zuko rolled his eyes, "Be that as it may, I have some training in the medical area."

The boy was about to retort when the mother stopped him. She glanced at Zuko with pleading eyes. "If you can help," she said softly, the words getting stuck in her throat, "Then please, we will be in your debt."

Zuko didn't try to tell her that he didn't want anything from this, or that he just wanted to help, because every second he wasted brought the man closer and closer to death. He dashed forward and knelt at the man's side as he hurriedly started to pull out several plants. The dagger was small and still embedded in the man's side, which was good because if they had pulled it out there would have been too much blood loss.

After preparing the jell-like substance by mashing all of the plants together he carefully began to pull the dagger out from under the man's ribs. The man and his family were lucky that the dagger had not punctured any vital organs on its way in. After the dagger was out of the way Zuko worked quickly to stitch up the wound and smear the pulp onto it before he took some of his bandages and wrapped them around the man to hold the wound closed better.

"You should not let him move too much for the next five days. His ribs will be a little sore because of the glancing blow to them. If you can, get him to a town and into a bed, he will heal better with sleep," Zuko said, in full healer mode. "Change the bandages every day if you can, to make sure the wound does not get infected."

The mother nodded, her face still streaked with drying tears, "Thank you."

Zuko shook his head and said nothing as he turned away to gather his things back into his bag. He got up and dusted off his knees as he turned to leave.

"Wait!" the mother called, looking up at him, and Zuko paused, but did not turn to her, "I-I never got your name."

Zuko closed his eyes for a moment to think of a suitable answer, "I am just a simple wanderer, trying to find my place," he said softly.

Before they could ask again he slipped back into the woods from where they had seen him come, the dark branches swallowing him up into their depths as he disappeared just as he had come, like a silent shadow in the night.

Two days later when the small merchants family made it to the nearest town the mother began asking around about a warrior who was also a healer and if anyone knew who he was. No one knew, but the story of what he had done spread and not too long after the incident a young man wandering the streets heard it and dashed off to tell his commander.

He was one of the forty-first division and for a reason he could not explain he knew that the warrior who was also a healer was important in some way.

0~o~0

Three days after the attack on the merchant's family an old man came to a stop and dismounted from his ostrich-horse. He crouched to the ground and examined the footprints with an experienced eye and a worried frown. He did not say anything as he examined what had happened, even though most of it had been worn away.

After several moments he remounted and headed off in the direction of the town following the wagon tracks, his golden eyes glinting in curiosity.

* * *

**Like? Hate? Need improvement? **

**Ok, do you guys want me to skip ahead two years to where Aang wakes up or do you want to hear more about Zuko's wandering in the EarthKingdom? If it's the second I'll need some suggestions about who you want Zuko to meet, where you want him to go, and do you want him to come out as the Avatar when he is behind the mask the of the Blue Spirit? Or maybe just reveal that he can do airbending accidentally and have to be careful of the Firenation? **

**If you want something included just suggest it and I'll see if I can fit it in the plot line. **

**Oh, and I'm still new too writing so I don't have anyone reading over my chapters before posting them so if anyone is interested contact me . . . somehow. I still haven't figured this all out yet so it may take me a wile to get back to you.**

**Again, thank you for all of your reviews. I need the encouragement to keep writing. **

**-Goldenbrook15**


	8. Awakening Of The First

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender**

_Previously:_

_"__Wait!" the mother called, looking up at him, and Zuko paused, but did not turn to her, "I-I never got your name."_

_Zuko closed his eyes for a moment to think of a suitable answer, "I am just a simple wanderer, trying to find my place," he said softly._

_Before they could ask again he slipped back into the woods from where they had seen him come, the dark branches swallowing him up into their depths as he disappeared just as he had come, like a silent shadow in the night._

**Hidden Secret**

**by: Goldenbrook15**

"Speaking"

_"__Thinking"_

_Memories_

**_Letters_**

**_Chapter 8_**

_Awakening Of The First_

Zuko paused at the top of a grassy hill and took in a deep breath, a small smile fluttering over his lips as he looked down over the small town below him. Over his shoulder was a bag of fish he had caught and was going to sell in town.

It had been two years now since he had left and though he missed his uncle greatly he was glad that he had done it. He had learned so much that he would have otherwise been unable to. On his way through the foggy swamp he had met a tribe of waterbenders who, though a little strange, had offered to teach him.

He had never found the supposedly hidden airbender stronghold. If there had ever been one it had long ago been destroyed by the ever growing swamp trees and water. It made him sad to think that he might never learn airbending to mastery, but at least he had a few of his own moves that he had made to at least get him along.

Another thing that had changed over the years was the reemergence of the Blue Spirit. The Blue Spirit was whispered about quite a lot in EarthKingdom towns and cities. It always made Zuko smile when he heard about the latest place that the vigilante had been spotted. No one had connected his absences to the Blue Spirit yet, and why should they? Lee the fisherman was just a boy who liked to take long trips around the EarthKingdom occasionally and had no family to help him. There was no way that he could be the Blue Spirit.

Or so they thought. And Zuko had never said other wise.

Zuko followed the path down to the town with careful steps, minding the loose dirt that was due for a landslide soon if it got wet. It was a hazard that had not been a problem until a few years ago when the Firenation had invaded and taken all of the benders. The only ones left didn't dare show themselves for fear of being caught.

Several of the other villagers called out in greeting to Zuko, who waved back. He headed to one of the stores and knocked quietly before entering. The inside was small and near empty, but it was cooler than outside and Zuko sighed in relief. He may have been born in the Firenation and was a firebender (along with all of the other elements, but no one needed to know that he was a bender at all) but the heat in the Earth Kingdom summers was awful.

An older lady smiled as she saw Zuko set down the bag of fish, "Catch anything good in that bag of yours, Lee?" she asked teasingly.

Zuko smiled at her, "I don't know. Let's open it and see, shall we?"

She laughed heartily and shook her head, "Are you looking for Haru, than?"

Zuko shrugged, "You know me, Tanna. Your son usually helps me with selling these fish, but I can't seem to find him anywhere."

It had been strange, joking around with someone. It the EarthKingdom it happened a lot and Zuko had often been accused of being stiff when he had first come here. Now it came naturally. Haru and his mother, Tanna, had been the first to take him in when they had seen him wandering through the town. He helped repay them by bringing back food that Tanna could sell in exchange for staying in their barn. It had been only a few short months after he had left his uncle that he had come upon this town.

It was small and hard to find. If anyone was searching for him it was unlikely that they would look here. Also, it had been almost two years and he had covered his tracks well. If anyone tried to find were he was they would be let on a false trail of sightings that he had set up leading them all over the EarthKingdom. He very much doubted that anyone tracking him would have a very good time.

Tanna sighed, bringing Zuko back to the present time. She shook her head sadly and looked out the window, "Haru should be back soon. I keep telling him not to practice but . . ."

"It's like telling someone not to breath." Zuko finished his own eyes saddening.

He had come upon the small family's secret not long after he had moved in. He had been shocked at first that the shy young man about his age had been an earthbender, let alone not getting caught for so long. Zuko knew personally what it was like to hold back his bending for a time. He had been doing it for almost his entire life. Of course, the consequences of him getting caught were far worse than Haru's, but it was still hard.

Zuko and Haru had become fast friends in the time that Zuko had been there. Haru understood that Zuko was not willing to share his mysterious past with him and Zuko understood that he could never ask his friend to stop bending. They worked together well and whenever Zuko was in town, which wasn't often as he spent most of his time wandering the EarthKingdom as a whole.

Haru loved to hear Zuko's tales of the land beyond this small valley. Haru had never left. His father had been taken soon after he was born for being an earthbender and it was all that his mother could do to keep them afloat. It was a blessing for the two when Zuko had offered his help to raze money.

Whenever Zuko returned he would always have a new story to tell Haru, and Haru loved them. Zuko had never told him was behind the mask of the Blue Spirit, though he had sometimes longed to, to share his secret with one of his best friends. But he knew that he could not do that, for it would put both himself and Haru's family in danger. So he compromised and told him tales of the Blue Spirit that he had picked up on the road.

Zuko was about to start unloading the fish from the sack when a sudden blinding pain flared in his head and he stumbled backwards with a gasp, his hand flying to his forehead. Distantly he heard Tanna's cries of concern and he shook his head, gritting his teeth against the pain he leaned against the wall.

His head pounded in agony and Zuko wondered what was wrong. He had never felt like this before.

"Tanna . . . please, the . . . barn," he panted.

Tanna nodded and quickly looped her arm under one of his and helped him out the back. They reached the barn and she opened the door quickly. Inside was what looked like a large room. A rarely used cot was set up in the corner along with a table and chair with a few scattered objects here and there. Tanna helped him into the chair and Zuko hissed as another wave of pain hit him.

He motioned for Tanna to leave and though she was reluctant she obeyed. When the door closed Zuko succumbed to the insistent pulling that he felt. White filled his vision, blinding white. He tried to shrink back but found that his body refused to move.

Suddenly there was a disturbance and the white rippled. A huge crack appeared straight ahead and the white began to swirl, mixing with the color blue as it shot out of the top of the crack and into what he could now see what was the sky. A half circle now surrounded him on three sides. The edges of his vision were still blurry and he felt himself floating up to the edge of the circle and looking down. The white faded and Zuko felt himself being jerked back again, this time as an observer.

There standing where Zuko had thought he had been, was a boy in airbender clothing and an arrow tattoo on his forehead. The boy's eyes glowed white for a second more and then he collapsed down the side of the dome at the feet of what looked like two water benders.

He could not hear what they were saying, nor would he have listened if he could.

_"__Aang . . ."_

He was sucked back into the vast whiteness again as he saw his friend from his life as Kuzon.

_"__But you were dead . . . and if your not, than why am I here?"_

Zuko felt like he was floating in the whiteness for hours with no way to escape. He was about to give up when he felt a hand grasp his shoulder and suddenly he was grounded. His feet touched the ground and he gasped for breath, realizing that he had not been breathing the entire time.

"I should have known this would happen."

Zuko startled when he heard the soft voice and turned to the speaker. She was tall, much taller than anyone that Zuko had ever seen before, but her features were beautiful. Long, pure white hair cascaded down her back, held up only by a small blue metal ring that held the hair above her ears into a tail that joined with the rest of her hair. Her dress was long and white. In several places the fabric seemed to end only to show another layer underneath, like white rose petals. Her blue eyes glowed with intelligence and power.

"Who are you?" Zuko asked.

She glanced down into his eyes and Zuko shuffled his feet, feeling like a small child being scolded by his mother.

"I am La, spirit of the moon," she said with a hind of amusement.

Zuko gaped at her. La . . . the spirit of the moon. _The spirit of the moon_ was talking to _him_?

Than what she had said before caught up to him and he frowned, "What should you have known would happen?"

La frowned and sighed, "I guess Agni didn't tell you than, after all."

Zuko frowned, "Agni? What does the spirit of the son have to do with what is happening now? What was he supposed to tell me?"

La motioned for him to sit down and a bench materialized out of the whiteness. She still didn't let go of his arm, though. It was almost like she was anchoring him to the ground so that he didn't get lost in the whiteness again. He waited patently for her to gather her thoughts, no need to aggravate someone way older and way more powerful than he could ever be, after all.

She closed her eyes after a moment and began, "About eighteen years ago the Council of Seven was assembled in preparation for an important decision.

"By this time the Avatar had been gone for almost a hundred years and the world was out of balance. Although all of us have some power of foreseeing the future none of us could _see_ the Avatar awakening any time soon. The world was too far out of balance for the current Avatar to do anything, and Agni knew that something would have to be done.

"He proposed that a new Avatar be awoken, and blessed by each of us to use the elements with great skill. Our direct blessing seems to have overridden the difficulty with learning the opposite element that usually occurs in the Avatar," she glanced at Zuko briefly in amusement, "Than again, you've never been quite normal."

Zuko frowned but did not complain. In his past life he had been Kuzon, the Blue Spirit and a friend of Avatar Aang. Now he was the prince of the Firenation and the – _an – _Avatar_. _He could not exactly disagree on that.

"When questioned on whom the Avatar would be it was determined that it would have to be out of Roku's line."

Zuko startled, "But I'm not related to Roku!" he said.

La razed an eyebrow, "Aren't you?"

Before he could protest with, "_Yes, I'm quite sure that I would know if I was descended from the last Firenation Avatar!" _she had already continued.

"The first candidate was your mother, but she was too old. It light of that, we knew that it had to be one of her children. Her first born, you, was then chosen."

Zuko shook his head, feeling childish showing more emotions now than he did any other time in his life, "What about my sister? She was always a stronger firebender than me. Why wasn't she chosen?"

"She had too much dragon in her blood."

_"__Excuse me?!"_

It looked like La was trying to hold back her irritation and a laugh at the same time, "You really don't know anything, do you? The line of Sozin is a dragon line. The first Fire Lord's were the dragon's who could change there shapes to walk among humans. After a time they lost the ability to change back. Occasionally a child born in Sozin's line will get more dragon blood than is normal, causing them to be more dragon than human, though they still look wholly human. The Avatar can only be a mortal who is mostly human, so your sister was not chosen."

Zuko opened his mouth to ask another question but her glare froze the words on his tongue and he swallowed them back down again, getting the hint.

"Where was I again? Oh, yes, you were chosen and the power awoken in you. As you grew older we began to have visions of Avatar Aang breaking from the ice and knew that you would not be the only Avatar. Agni was supposed to tell you that himself, but it looks like he didn't," La sighed.

"What happened to you was an Echo. When the power was embedded in you it made you similar to the original Avatar and thus in the few seconds that Aang's power fluctuated his spirit sent out a pulse that summoned yours as his own was still in distress. In short, he was unconsciously calling for help. It called you here."

Zuko blinked, dumbfounded. "You mean what I saw was . . . real? Aang is alive?"

La smiled, "Yes, Avatar Zuko. And he is in need of a guide. You may have the weight of the world on your shoulders, but no one ever said that you had to do it alone. Now, _wake!_"

Zuko's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at the ceiling of the small barn that he stayed in every time that he came over. His head still hurt, but it had dulled to a slight ache now. Disbelief pricked at him, but in his heart he knew.

_"__Aang is alive."_

0~o~0

In the early reaches of dawn when the sun had not even begun to peek over the mountains of the small town and wake its occupants, a tearful good-by was happening between two friends.

"You just got here!" Haru said sadly to Zuko, who he had known for the last two years as Lee.

"I'm sorry, but I . . . I have to," Zuko could not very well come out and say that a _spirit _had come to him and told him that he needed to seek out Aang and teach him.

They were silent for several moments before Haru sighed and pulled something from his pocket. It was a small medallion made of rock and leather. Carved on it was a badger in such exquisite detail that it could only have been done by an earthbender.

Haru fiddled with it for a moment. "I made this for you, so that you wouldn't forget us," he said softly.

Zuko smiled softly and accepted the gift from Haru. He knew that his leaving so soon after he had just gotten back was hard on Haru. He had kind of become like a big brother to him. This small token of friendship had to have taken a long time and Zuko felt bad for leaving so quickly, but knew that he had to.

"I will treasure it," he said softly.

Pulling his bags over his shoulders and making sure that his swords were secure he nodded to Haru and set off down the trail leading south. He could fell the ever so slight tugging that he could fell guiding him to Aang. At the crest of the hill he turned back and saw Haru still standing there. Razing his hand in farewell Zuko saw Haru do the same. Then he turned and disappeared from sight over the hill.

0~o~0

On a large Firenation ship gliding through the waters of the South Pole a shout went up. A large, bright light shot into the sky from a place not far from where they were. It blinded them for a few short moments and then went out again, but there was on mistaking that something out of the ordinary had happened. One of the ship's crew ran inside and then came back out again with a man who had large sideburns on either side of his face.

"Commander Zhao, we have spotted something, Sir!"

Commander Zhao, for that was who the man was, placed the spy-glass to his eye and looked out over the unforgiving ice. Out in the distance, lifting from an iceberg, was a thought to be extinct flying bison. And on its head, though too far away from the ship to make out details, a figure sat guiding it, just as the airbenders of old used to. Slowly a cold, dark smile lifted his lips. His gold flecked eyes glinted with danger.

_"__Finally," _He whispered, "The Avatar."

* * *

**Thanks to Verona-mira for reading this chapter over and pointing out the mistakes. I think I got most of them, but I can't be too sure. **

**I hope this chapter was good enough. There were a lot of good ideas, but one of my reviewers pointed out that it might be best if I went right into Aang waking up and gave some good reasons for it. Don't worry, Zuko and Aang aren't going to run into each other until Zuko has to save him from Zhao, but I am unsure if I will have him reveal his identity at that point. So you all get plenty of Zuko wandering before that happens. **

**-Hmm, I wonder what the Forty-First division are doing right now? **

**(whistles and looks innocent)**

**Don't look at me! I'm not telling!-**

**-Yet.-**

**Thank you for reading,**

**Goldenbrook15 **


	9. Assassin's Blade

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

**Hello everyone! New chapter! Hope you like it!**

**(Giggles gleefully and rubs hands together in anticipation)**

**This is just something to fill in details for later chapters, so not much about Zuko in here, but if you don't read you won't understand what is going on later.**

_Previously:_

_On a large Firenation ship gliding through the waters of the South Pole a shout went up. A large, bright light shot into the sky from a place not far from where they were. It blinded them for a few short moments and then went out again, but there was on mistaking that something out of the ordinary had happened. One of the ship's crew ran inside and then came back out again with a man who had large sideburns on either side of his face. _

_"__Commander Zhao, we have spotted something, Sir!" _

_Commander Zhao, for that was who the man was, placed the spy-glass to his eye and looked out over the unforgiving ice. Out in the distance, lifting from an iceberg, was a thought to be extinct flying bison. And on its head, though to far away from them to make out details, a figure sat guiding it, just as the airbenders of old used to. Slowly a cold, dark smile lifted his lips. His gold flecked eyes glinted with danger. _

_"__Finally," He whispered, "The Avatar." _

**Hidden Secret**

"Speaking"

_"__Thinking"_

_Memories_

**_Letters_**

**_Chapter 8_**

_Assassin's Blade_

It was a modestly sized town. A shopping center was placed where the four main roads met and many shops were open. Children ran around laughing as they played and parents watched them. Shoppers moved quickly from place to place, examining the merchandise and occasionally buying something. Grinning merchants called out to passing people in hopes of attracting there attention to buy something.

Tucked away in the corner, though, a small, indiscreet Inn was quiet besides the occasional whispering as people passed, watching it wearily but never entering. The Inn's name was _Dragon's Bane_, and many a tale was told about it. The outside was old and needed a good set of paint. What little color that had once decorated it was stripped away with time, leaving only the warped and sliver infested wood behind. Windows that once held glass were cracked and broken. Many of the windows were only covered by a peace of cloth. Those in the town warned any new comers to never go there, for there own wellbeing, but they never said why.

The _Dragon's Bane_ was a place of both mystery and fear for the town. Only the darkest and most dangerous of society dared to go in, and few ever came back out again. With its dark exterior and bubble of silence that seemed to surround it, newcomers had to agree with those in the town.

Today, in the dark shadows across from the Inn, a cloaked woman stood watching, her sharp, almost black eyes taking in every detail. Her dark cloak made those that saw her shy away with unease. A hood was pulled up over her face, hiding most of her features. She stood still, unmoving except to shuffle her feet every once in a wile to keep her muscles from sizing up. Unseen by everyone else, several daggers were covering her person. Two were strapped on either leg wile her sleeves hid up to a dozen small ones. Between her shoulder blades, hidden under her cloak, a much larger dagger than the others rested, looking more like a short sword than anything else. On every blade an intricately carved symbol was marked, and for those who knew what it meant, she was an assassin, a master assassin, one of the most dangerous in all of the three lands.

It was plain to see that she was waiting for someone, who that someone was the people of the town didn't stick around to find out. As the sun began to dip in the sky and the town square started to empty and quiet down, another figure approached the _Dragon's Bane_ with swift, purposeful strides. The new person, clearly a man this time, reached the door of the inn and glanced around casually. His eyes met those of the woman for no more than a split second, but it was enough.

The woman didn't move for several minutes after the man had entered. When it seemed that enough time had passed, she pushed off from the wall and glided forward. Her feet seemed to nary make a sound on the packed ground and her walk was that of a predator. When she had reached the door she opened it only enough to slip through and then closed it again behind her.

The inside of the _Dragon's Bane_ was much different from the outside. Though the darkness still lurked in the air, many were sitting around worn but well taken care of tables and a fire was burning brightly in a corner of the large room. Some of the inhabitants glanced her way and then turned back to their own whispered conversations, uninterested. It was an unspoken rule here that one didn't listen to what others were speaking of and they would not listen to yours.

The woman spotted the man from earlier and slipped through the crowd which parted easily before her, somehow sensing that she was not one that they wanted to antagonize. The man was sitting in a secluded corner with a cup of something in his hand. His fingers drummed nervously on the table top as his eyes darted to everyone else. The assassin sneered beneath her hood at him. He was pathetic, and if the proposal he had written her hadn't been so intriguing she would not have come at all.

"Mistress Rahsia Serigala, last of the Shadow Wolfs people and trained under the Dark Lady herself, thank you for coming on such short notice," the man said formally, spotting her approach.

"Cut the pleasantries. Why did you call me here?" she said, her voice ice cold. Her eyes were fixed on him as she slid into the chair opposite.

The man looked uncomfortable for a moment before he visibly calmed himself, "I have a job for you," he said and then paused, as if waiting for her to ask what it was, but she said nothing and continued to stare unwaveringly. After a moment of silence he cleared his throat and continued, "There is someone my boss wants dead. He is willing to pay quite handsomely for this to be done and proof brought back."

The woman, Rahsia, frowned, "Who is this man, if I may ask."

The man stuttered for a moment and then said, "The Blue Spirit."

Her eyes hardened and she sat up straighter, "You wish me to go after a spirit? Are you insane? You must have heard the stories of what he can do, and if he isn't a spirit then he isn't human either."

The man scowled, "We very much doubt that he is a spirit-"

"Then why are you asking for his death."

The man was silent for a moment, "His existence alone is cause for worry," he said and glanced around again before he pulled out a small stack of papers and handed it to her, "These are written records from over a hundred years ago with reports of a similar being calling himself by the same name. And even before that, there are mentions of him in the old archives. They mention someone called Tonrar, a spirit with the face of a blue and white demon."

Rahsia flipped through the papers frowning at the incomplete details and old reports probably copied from the originals. Several drawings that looked similar to what people said that the Blue Spirit looked like now were included. "If this Blue Spirit was alive over a hundred years ago and had a long history before that, this only goes on to prove that he is a spirit," she said, not glancing up.

The man shook his head, "We have carefully looked through all of our records and have created a time line. The Blue Spirit only stays active for around fifty years and then disappears for at least twenty or more years before they reappear again. My associates theorize that the Blue Spirit is just a human with vigorous training from the former Blue Spirit, who passes their legacy on to the next when they become to old to do what they used to."

"So what happened over a hundred years ago? Why did this Blue Spirit, this Tonrar, disappear without anyone to take over?" Rahsia said with a razed eyebrow.

The man shrugged, "No one knows. He disappeared. Completely vanished and was never seen again. He had only been working as the Blue Spirit about twenty years from what we found."

"So this new 'Blue Spirit' is just a copy cat then, probably nothing to worry about. So what has you and yours scared enough to come to _me._"

The man winced and rubbed a scar on his hand, "The Blue Spirit, real one or not, is still too similar to the old. It was the Blue Spirit's whole purpose to bring down corruption, and they nearly did bring us down. Many times we were forced back into hiding in the shadows, and even then we were not safe, for the greatest enemy comes from within, and the Blue Spirit understood that. Even if he was not trained by the real Blue Spirit, he is still a danger to us," he man leaned forward, "so, will you take the job."

Rahsia was silent, her fingers still fiddling with the pages, before a small, evil smile spread up her black painted lips.

"I'll think about it," she said, but really she had already made her decision. The hand out of sight was fiddling with a small, black dagger, the only one that she had and the most dangerous in her arsenal. She had always wanted to test her skill against a professional, and this may be her chance. She had heard rumors about this Blue Spirit and how he fought like a ghost, and she hadn't wanted to be the one to find out if that rumor was right or not, but if he was really just a man wearing a mask and calling himself the Blue Spirit . . .

Then he had better watch his back, because she had always enjoyed a challenge.

"That is all we ask."

0~o~0

Somewhere in the south, ridding in the back of the wagon that he had hitched a ride in, Zuko felt a shiver of foreboding shoot down his spine. Something was going to happen, and it was not going to be good for him.

0~o~0

Aang was meditating a short distance from Katara and Sokka. He liked having them around but sometimes he longed for his old friends. He wished he still had Bumi's cryptic words or Kuzon's calming silence.

Ever since he had found his old mentor's skeleton images kept haunting his mind about what had happened. If he had stayed could he have helped? Would he have been able to stop what had happened to his people if he had been there? Or was Katara right, and Aang would have died there as well, his skeleton laying discarded among so many others? Aang didn't know.

He took a deep breath to calm himself, careful not to wake Katara or Sokka from their slumber. Ever since they had left the South Pole they had been followed by the Firenation. In Kyoshi the man with the huge sideburns had nearly captured Aang, again. That was not good.

Aang knew that he had to learn how to control all of the elements before he could face of against the Fire Lord, and that scared him. He hadn't wanted to be the Avatar, he hadn't asked for it, and now everyone was saying that he had to take down an even crazier man than the one that was constantly pursuing them. To tell the truth, he didn't know if he could do it.

They were headed for Omashu now, and Aang hoped that things would get better soon. He had a bad feeling that something was going to happen soon.

0~o~0

"Captain, a report just came in for you. The Avatar has been spotted on KyoshiIsland."

"The Avatar, you say? On KyoshiIsland? What was he doing there?"

". . . riding the giant fish, Captain."

"Hmm, keep me informed, Lieutenant. Any progress on Project: Find the Prince?"

"None, Captain. The sighting turned out to be false. We are again at a dead end."

There was silence for several moments, "Keep trying, Lieutenant. This only means that he knows that someone is following him. If only we could get in contact with him somehow . . ."

"Yes, Captain. Will there be anything else?"

"No, but tell me if you find anything. I have a feeling that things are about to change drastically soon, and we need to be prepared for the storm it will cause in its wake."

"Of course, Captain."

0~o~0

In a dark cave far from any civilization, where the land itself came to an end and the EverlastingOcean began, a large, black, scaly eyebrow twitched, and the milky white eye came into view as the eyelid slide open.

IT had awoken.

* * *

**Dun, dun, dun . . .**

**Hehe, I just had to cut it off there. Sorry this chapter is so short. I'll try to make the next one longer. **

**_Rashia – secret_**

**_Serigala – wolf; jackal_**


	10. Nightmares

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

_Previously:_

_"So this new 'Blue Spirit' is just a copy cat then, probably nothing to worry about. So what has you and yours scared enough to come to me."_

_The man winced and rubbed a scar on his hand, "The Blue Spirit, real one or not, is still too similar to the old. It was the Blue Spirit's whole purpose to bring down corruption, and they nearly did bring us down. Many times we were forced back into hiding in the shadows, and even then we were not safe, for the greatest enemy comes from within, and the Blue Spirit understood that. Even if he was not trained by the real Blue Spirit, he is still a danger to us," he man leaned forward, "so, will you take the job?"_

_Rahsia was silent, her fingers still fiddling with the pages, before a small, evil smile spread up her black painted lips. _

_"I'll think about it," she said, but really she had already made her decision. The hand out of sight was fiddling with a small, black dagger, the only one that she had like it and the most dangerous in her arsenal. She had always wanted to test her skill against a professional, and this may be her chance. She had heard rumors about this Blue Spirit and how he fought like a ghost, and she hadn't wanted to be the one to find out if that rumor was right or not, but if he was really just a man wearing a mask and calling himself the Blue Spirit . . ._

_Then he had better watch his back, because she had always enjoyed a challenge._

_"That is all we ask."_

**Hidden Secrets**

"Speaking"

"_Thinking_"

**Memories**

**_Letters/Dreams_**

Chapter 10

_Nightmares_

**_He breathed in, mentally preparing himself for what was to come. His face was clear and unscarred, and he knew that he would have to fight back to keep it that way. All around him a fire burned bright blue, outlining the arena and making escape impossible, but he ignored it. Beyond the fire a huge crowd was gathered, silent watching, their faces unrecognizable. With a swift turn Zuko spun around to face his opponent. _**

**_There, his father stood, cold and uncaring. On his shoulders a dark red dragon lay lazily, watching Zuko with its piercing gold eyes. Zuko didn't falter. Anger boiled inside of him as he prepared to punch fire at the man who had been his father. _**

**_But the fire didn't come. Zuko stared at his fist in shock. It had been a basic firebending move, something that should by now be second nature. He looked up at his father too see him smirking at him, his eyes glinting. Fear spread through him, consuming the fire that he could not let out. _**

**_"Why don't you water bend at me, Prince Zuko?" the voice of his father echoed mockingly and coming from more then one place, "That is, after all, what you have been hiding, isn't it, Avatar."_**

**_"What?" Zuko shook his head franticly. _**

**_His father could not know. _**

**_His father could not know!_**

**_"Oh, I know, Prince. I have known for a long time. Why do you think that I banished you? I have wanted to do it for a very long time, and you gave me the perfect opportunity when you spoke out. I have to thank you for that. How is that scar doing?"_**

**_The left side of his face suddenly lit up in pain and Zuko screamed in agony as his legs collapsed underneath him. It was like he was being burned all over again. _**

**_"This is what happens when you go against the Fire Lord, Avatar. My only regret is that the fire didn't blind you. Now wouldn't that be perfect?"_**

**_Zuko pushed through the pain. He was not going to let his father win. He couldn't, not after what he had done. He gathered his strength and sent it out in one huge wave of fire towards his father, tears streaming down his face. The fire seemed to move in slow motion and behind them Zuko could see his father smirk. _**

**_"Would you kill your own father, Zuko?" the Fire Lord asked, "Or rather, would you kill your sister?"_**

**_The Fire Lord dissolved and in his place a small five-year-old stood. Her hair was rumpled and she was clutching a stuffed dragon to her chest. She looked around in confusion, not seeming to notice the fire speeding toward her. Her eyes found Zuko and she smiled brightly. Zuko's eyes widened in horror as he tried to move the flames out of the way, but they were out of his control. They would not obey his command._**

**_"Zuzu!" she cried happily and started to run toward him. Zuko opened his mouth to tell her to run, to get out of the way, but his lips would not move. His eyes stayed fixed on her small form. The flames swallowed her and a scream erupted from the orange flames. Tears poured from his eyes, but he could not move. "Zuzu, help me!" _**

**_"See what your power can do? See what power your anger can call? Do you want this, Avatar? Do you want the world to burn?" his father's voice echoed from around him hauntingly._**

**_"No . . ." Zuko whispered, his eyes wide in horror. The flames surrounding his sister turned bright blue, the same color of her own flames. They shot into the sky, looming above him mockingly in the form of a huge blue dragon who bellowed into the sky in pain and betrayal. _**

**_"Why, Zuzu? Why didn't you save me?" the flames breathed to him, her last dying words before the flames disappeared. All the flames vanished around him in their wake, revealing the crowd for the first time. In the front row his uncle stood, watching him in fear. _**

**_"What have you done?" Iroh asked as he ran to the charred and unrecognizable form of his little sister. _**

**_A weight seemed to lift from Zuko, the same weight that had stopped him from going to rescue his sister. He choked on his tears as he tried to explain him self, but there was nothing he could explain. He had let his anger get away from him. He had lethis sister burn. _**

**_"I didn't mean to . . ." Zuko whispered brokenly, looking at his uncle pleadingly, begging him to understand. "I didn't mean to . . ."_**

**_Another person stepped from the crowd. It was Haru. He looked at Zuko and then at his sister. His face was blank and uncaring. His emotionless voice cut into Zuko far worse than any yelling could have. _**

**_"So this is your sister," Haru said and shook his head, stepping back, "Would you do this to me, too?"_**

**_Other murmurs started in the crowd and now that he turned to them he could see many people that he had known or met in his travels. Their eyes drilled into him, judging him and finding him guilty. _**

**_"Who could do such a thing, too his own sister?" _**

**_"I can't believe that I sheltered someone like him in my home."_**

**_"He is a failure to his country." _**

**_"Disgrace."_**

**_"He's a danger to society." _**

**_"Murderer."_**

**_"Wake up."_**

**_"_****Wake up****_."_**

"Wake up!"

With a stuttering gasp Zuko shot up and blinked around rapidly. The old lady that had been shaking him awake raised her eyebrow at his sudden movement.

"Nightmare?" she asked, but did not wait for a response. "Breakfast in an hour. Be gone by the time I come to clean your room."

Zuko took a deep breath and nodded, though the old lady didn't see it as she had already gone out to wake the family next door. He got up with a sigh and put his head in his hands. A small, almost inaudible sob slipped between his lips.

The nightmare was not a new one, but it never failed to rattle him. He did not know what had triggered it this time, he had not had that specific nightmare in almost two months and had thought that he would be done with it. Zuko sucked in a shuttering breath and shook his head to clear the dream from his thoughts. He had to get moving soon.

Ever since he had started following Aang he had to rely on his inner sense more and more. He knew that Aang didn't know any of the other elements yet and had assumed that he would head for the North Pole to learn water bending. It seemed, however, that Aang was still a kid at heart, just like he had been when he was frozen.

Zuko didn't think that being a kid was bad, just frustrating for him to try and track. Aang literally didn't stick to one path. It was annoying to have to suddenly switch directions at a moments notice. He had wanted to meet up with Aang at some point on the way to the North Pole, but it seemed that he was being reduced to aimless wandering.

One good thing did come of this, though. Anyone following Aang – and Zuko was sure that there was someone – would get hopelessly confused if they tried to plot where Aang was heading on a map. By now, Zuko was already hearing rumors of the Avatar coming back and he knew that the Fire Nation would not be far behind. Any rumor was taken with great seriousness in the Fire Nation.

Zuko quickly cleaned up and packed his bags. He was only staying at this Inn for a night before he planned to move on. After a quick breakfast Zuko placed his bags on his ostrich-horse, Quill, and hopped on.

They left the town quickly but Zuko still watched the forest wearily. For days he had felt as though he was being watched, though he knew that no one was there. It made him jumpy and nervous, something that was not good to have in a firebender. He had to spend more time meditating every night because of it.

His fire was naturally calmer than a normal firebender because of his ability to bend the other elements, but he was still a firebender and he still needed to meditate to control his inner fire. With him being so jumpy he was likely to release an accidental fire burst.

Currently, Zuko could feel a vague pull in the direction of Omashu. That is where he was heading. He hoped that whatever was following him would lose interest and go away before he got there. No doubt Aang would already be gone by the time that he made it to the city, but there was a possibility that someone knew where the Avatar was headed.

As the sun started to set Zuko found a small clearing not far from the road to set up camp. He prepared a fire and his sleeping bag, never noticing the reflected light from a pair of eyes observing him from the darkness just beyond the light if the fire. He didn't find the wolf tracks that circled his camp site when he woke and left.

His silent observer went unseen.

_~0~o~0~o~0~o~0~_

_**Father,**_

_**The mission was a success. The western islands will no longer be a resistance to your power as Fire Lord. Those that were part of the rebellion have been found and taken care of as you ordered. I suspect that those supporters of the rebellion that remain hidden are laying low for now, but they should not be much of a problem. I have made quite the lasting impression. This coming winter will be a hard one for them, especially since they had a bad crop this year. I hear that something about a freak firestorm that burned half of their fields . . .**_

_**I have also been told of some interesting rumors by the way. Have you ever heard of the Blue Spirit? He is apparently quite popular among the Earth Kingdom **__**supporters. From what I have heard he had already taken out much of our support among the peasants. His presence is . . . disturbing. It would not be wise to ignore this. **_

**_General Zhao is still trying to gain my favor. Do you think I should do something about his ridiculous attention yet? He is getting to be quite annoying, especially since he supposedly found the Avatar. The Avatar has not been seen for over a hundred years, why would they come out now of all times?_**

**_I have not heard word of my impulsive brother yet. It is puzzling. After his banishment it was like he vanished. The coming of the Avatar was something I had thought he would jump on. Coupled with the fact that there has not been a sighting of him in over two years I think something might be going on we don't yet know about._**

_**I should arrive back at the palace in five days time. **_

_**Your Faithful Daughter,**_

**_Princess Azula_**

_~0~o~0~o~0~o~0~_

_It _slithered through the damp of the cave, it's long, scaly nose sniffing at the walls. One eye was a milky white that stared unseeing. The other eye was gold, with a hint of red outlining the cat like pupil. Long, obsidian claws scratched at the dark surface of rock that had kept _It_ entrapped in its prison. For thousands of years _It_ had waited. For thousands of years _It _remained forgotten. Even the spirits who had once fought him and sealed him here had forgotten. They had forgotten _It_, _It's __power_.

For thousands of years _It_ had slept, letting the memories of _It_ slip away and disappear.

But now _It_ had awoken. _It_ was ready. _It's_ power was greater than ever before. The spirits should have known that they could not imprison _It_ in darkness. The darkness fed _it_. The darkness _was It_. Where there were shadows, _It_ was strong.

The spirits would learn to fear _It. _

There was only one thing that could stop _It. It _was sure that this being did not exist, though. In _Its _dreams, _It_ had seen a man, a human-but-not, wearing a blue and white mask while carrying two swords. This being was dressed in all black and seemed part of the shadows themselves.

But the shadows were _It's. It _would not allow anyone else command over them. Whoever this human-but-not was, _It _would destroy him, and then _It_ would destroy the world. The prophecy of the Blue Demon would never come true; _It _would make sure of that.

_~0~o~0~o~0~o~0~_

**Did you like it? **

**Sorry I have not been writing as much as I was. School is coming up and I need to revise my notes from last year. (Sigh.)**

**I'll try to get a chapter in as soon as I can though. Thanks for reading! **


	11. Captured

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

**I am sorry it's been so long. School is now in session and I have a ban on how long I can spend on technology. Sigh. I'm working as fast as I can, but I do have other stories that I still have to update.**

**On with the story!**

Hidden Secrets

"Speaking"

_"__Thinking"_

_Memories_

**_Letters/Dreams_**

**_Chapter 11_**

_Captured_

"Absolutely not! The Yu Yan Archers stay here. Your request is _denied_, Commander Zhao." Shinu said angrily.

"Colonel Shinu, please reconsider . . . their precision is legendary. The Yu Yan can pin a fly to a tree from one hundred yards away . . . without killing it." Zhao's voice had an annoyed edge to it. It wasn't often that he was denied, "You're wasting their talents using them as mere _security guards_."

"I can do whatever I want with their talents," Shinu retorted, "they're _my_ archers, and what I say goes."

Down in the yard below them one of the archers pulls back four arrows at once and then releases them, only a fraction of a difference between each. All four arrows hit a different target in the center with perfect accuracy. Another archer pulls out more arrows to shoot with the soft sound of wood on wood.

Zhao turns angrily to Shinu, just barely holding himself back from sending fire at the other mans face by keeping his arms folded behind his back. It would not be good to loose his temper in a fortress full of people loyal to Shinu. "But my search for the Avatar is-"

Shinu scoffed and stepped closer to Zhao, cutting him off, "Is nothing but a vanity project! Were fighting a real war here, and I need every man I've got, commander."

Zhao went to continue his reasoning but the other commander cut him off.

"That's final! I don't want to hear another word about it!" Shinu turns to walk away when a messenger hawk swooped down.

Zhao razed an eyebrow when he recognized the symbol on the messenger container to be that of the royal palace, "News from Fire Lord Ozai?"

Shinu glanced at the message and handed it over to Zhao. He took the message and brushed passed the other commander with a small smirk as he read the paper.

"It looks like I've been promoted to Admiral. My request . . . is now an order."

Above them, unnoticed in the shadows, a blue mask grins menacingly. The shadowy form wavers for a moment, seeming to have been listening the entire time, before it slips back and disappears again into the darkness.

0~o~0~o~0~o~0

Aang didn't show it, but he was depressed. Ever since he had seen Bumi his mind had started to wander to his other friend from before he was trapped in a sphere of ice. If Bumi was still alive after all these years, could Kuzon be too? Kuzon had always been by his side whenever he could, protecting and guiding him.

With out Kuzon he felt just . . . lost. He had been able to ignore it for several weeks, but when he had seen Bumi still alive, he could not help but feel pain. Kuzon had been his partner in crime, his friend, his older brother. Inside, Aang knew that if Kuzon was still alive, he would have come for him by now.

It pained Aang to think that, maybe, the firebender he had thought of as an older brother may not be alive.

A hundred years he had been frozen. A hundred years he had missed, young in body but old in spirit, wile the world moved on around his frozen prison. A hundred years he had neglected his duty as Avatar. A lot could change in a hundred years.

Could Kuzon have moved on without him? Maybe he had found a lady and had a family, growing old with the memories of time fading. If he was even still alive after all this time, he might not even remember Aang.

It terrified him.

He wanted Kuzon to be happy, to be free of the burden of having the Avatar as a friend, a friend that would one day have to go against the Fire Nation. Aang wished with all his heart that Kuzon had moved on, but at the same time he longed for conformation. Was Kuzon alive? Did he still remember him?

A cough interrupted his musing as he came into the ruins that they were staying in and he looked over at his new friends, Sokka and Katara. They were the ones to break him from the ice berg and offered to travel with him even if they did not have to. They had stuck by his side where many others would not. And even though sometimes they were cornered by Zhao they still stayed with him.

Just the day before Aang and Katara had rescued Sokka and the old fishermen from the storm. Everything had seemed to be fine until Sokka had woken up with a cough and muttering nonsense. His fever had risen even though Katara had been tending to him for the last several hours.

Katara pressed a wet rag to Sokka's face, murmuring softly to him, "This should bring your fever down."

"You know what I love about Appa the most?" Sokka said, shivering and eyes glazed, "His sense of humor."

"That's nice, I'll tell him," Katara said tiredly. She had hardly had any sleep, Aang knew. She had been up all night tending to her brother. For a moment he felt a pinch of hurt that he couldn't do more to help.

Appa growled softly and Sokka laughed, "Classic Appa."

Aang hid a wince. Seeing Sokka like this was strange and to tell the truth slightly disturbing. The herbs he had gone to get were nowhere to be found and Aang didn't know anything about the local plants and what they did. He would rather not risk it.

"How's Sokka doing?" Aang asked, hiding his exhaustion from Katara as he headed toward her and her brother.

"Not so good, being out in that storm really did a number on him," Katara replied.

Aang shook his head and sighed, feeling older than his physical age (being born over a hundred and twelve years ago didn't count). "I couldn't find any ginger root for the tea. But I found a map. There's an herbalist institute on top of that mountain. We could probably find a cure for Sokka there." Aang laid the map out on the floor and pointed toward what he meant.

Katara glanced at him and the map before turning back to Sokka, "Aang, he's in no condition to travel. I'm sure he'll be better by tomorrow," a sudden cough erupted from her.

Aang felt a curl of dread settle into his stomach. Sokka being sick was bad enough, but Katara too? He couldn't loose them now! "Not you too!" he exclaimed.

"Relax," Katara said in a dismissive tone, "it was just a little cough. I'm fi-" another coughing fit, this time harder.

Aang had covered his face with his hands wile she coughed, and when she stopped and looked up at her with panicked eyes, "That's how Sokka started yesterday. Now look at him! He thinks he's an earthbender!" he gestured wildly at the only other boy in their group, who was currently throwing sloppy punches at nothing.

"Take that you rock!"

Katara blinks tiredly at her brother and sighed.

Aang stood up and grabbed his glider, "A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense, too. I'm going to find some medicine!"

He headed to the entrance and opened the glider. He knew that he was acting slightly childish, but who cared, he was a kid! A sudden flash of lightning ripping through the sky like claws caused him to blink and back up slightly, "Um, maybe it's safer if I go on foot," he twirled his staff, returning it to normal and leaning it against the wall. He took one last look back before taking off running down the mountain at impossible speeds. The faster he got the medicine the faster his friends could get better and the less chance of them being caught.

Aang could not have known that his choice to leave was what brought his captor's attention to his whereabouts.

0~o~0~o~0~o~0

Zhao was alone when the second messenger hawk found him. This one came from one of his spies. He pulled out the message and unrolled it, the hawk still perched on his arm. As he read his eyes narrowed in thought and contemplation.

"Intriguing," he said, his eyes glinting, "Very intriguing."

0~o~0~o~0~o~0

Zuko grabbed his hair in frustration and growled. He was close, he knew it. He could practically _feel_ Aang hanging around here somewhere. So where was he?

There was also that little problem with Zhao. As a captain favored by the Fire Lord he had been dangerous enough, but as Admiral his influence was devastating. No one would dare defy him in fear of facing the Fire Lord's wrath. With him chasing the Avatar his mission just became all that more risky. If he was caught not only aiding the Avatar, but an Avatar himself, there was a sure probability that he would not come out of a meeting with the Fire Lord alive.

There was also a slight problem with Aang being in the same general area as Admiral Zhao. He was too close to where the Yuyan Archers would be stationed. If he did anything to draw attention to himself, Zuko knew that his old friend would undoubtedly be captured.

It was either find Aang now and warn him to leave immediately . . . or rescue him from the impenetrable Pohuai Fortress. The first was possible, but Zuko doubted he would find him in time. The second . . .

Zuko turned to his pack, which was resting to the side of his ostrich-horse. Though he could not see inside he knew the contents well: A black suit and blue, grinning mask, along with two Dual Dao swords that would be strapped across his back.

The second was a possibility.

Pohuai Fortress was said to be impossible to break into, or to break out, of. If Zuko was too pull this off he was going to do the unfeasible. Thankfully he specialized in that. When had he even done anything the easy way, after all?

Zuko took a deep breath and his eyes hardened. If he couldn't find Aang before they caught him, then he was just have to save him afterwards.

And wasn't that a daunting prospect?

0~o~0~o~0~o~0

_Frozen Frogs?_

The old lady must be insane. How could _frozen frogs_ be any good with sickness? It was just . . . just . . . bleg! Aang was reluctant to do as she said, but if it would help make his friends better he would try it. Just the thought made him shiver in revulsion and loose any appetite that he had.

He rushed out of the herbalist institute and stumbled slightly as a giant gust of wind almost picked him up. The storm was getting worse. It had been bad when he had left, and Aang hoped he wouldn't be too soaked before he got back with the frogs.

There were several flashes of red and arrows suddenly started coming at him from the forest. The first two pinned his legs before Aang registered the danger and he quickly airbent a shield around him to block the rest. When the arrows were all deflected he let down the shield and crouched to pull the arrow out of his right pant leg.

"Uh . . . I think you dropped this . . ." Aang said with slightly wide eyes as he gazed at the tress in fear. Had they meant to shoot at him?

Another flash of red and this time Aang saw his attackers. Each of them wore Firenation red and black. Around their eyes red and white face paint is applied, making them look inhuman. One by one he saw them placing more arrows on their bowstrings and a scream bubbled up inside of him as well as terror.

Quickly Aang freed his foot from the other arrow and took off running away from the forest. The demon archers were still following, jumping out of the trees and following him swiftly on foot. He knew that he would have to think of something fast. Even while running the archers were still shooting and Aang was dodging the projectiles by centimeters.

The ground disappeared underneath him and Aang tumbled down, using his airbending to slow his fall to the trees bellow the unexpected cliff. He glanced back briefly before he hits the trees, hoping desperately that the drop will have stopped his pursuers.

No such luck. The archers leaped gracefully off of the edge and pulled out more arrows, this time with ropes tied on, and aimed for the trees. Each arrow caught and the archers swung through the trees to land on the branches before continuing to leap through the wooden trunks. Their feet were as light as an airbenders.

Aang stumbled out of the forest and into the murky water of the swamp. Feeling something hard beneath his hand he pulled it out and saw the glistening white of a frozen frog.

"A frog!" Aang cried, momentarily forgetting about his pursuers until the frog was abruptly knocked from his hand by a red fletched arrow.

Aang knew that he had to get the frogs for his friends, but he also knew that he had to get away from the crazy Fire Nation archers. If he left now he might not be able to come back out and get the frogs later as they would know where to look for him. Deciding quickly Aang fished around for more frogs, shoving them in his shirt as he did so.

He continued to move forward but a sudden arrow secured his sleeve to the log behind him. Eyes wide in panic Aang tried to free his hand but several more arrows pinned his other arm and shoulders before a net was secured over them. In the position he was in it was impossible for him to airbend.

_Oh, great, _he thought fear curling in his heart as he looked into red painted faces, _I'm doomed. _

0~o~0~o~0~o~0

The chains that bound him were hard and very restricting, forcing him to stay still. He could not airbend at all like this and Aang knew that without help he wasn't going to get out of this. But Katara and Sokka were sick; they were depending on him to bring back medicine for them so that they could get better. They were the only ones that would be worried about him and come after him . . . but they couldn't because of the sickness.

The large door he was facing opened and Zhao stepped in. Aang scowled. Zhao had followed them all the way from the Southern Water Tribe and had been relentless in his hunting. Not once had they found a safe place that stayed safe for long with him after them. Sometimes he wondered what Zhao's motivation was.

"So this is the great Avatar:_Master of all the elements_. I don't know how you've managed to elude the Fire Nation for a hundred years, but your little game of hide and seek is over." Zhao's voice was mocking as he walked around Aang's hanging form with a slight smirk, his arms folded behind his back.

Aang felt his anger bubble up in him and his scowl deepened, "I've never hidden from you! Untie me and I'll fight you right now!" he said, desperately hoping that Zhao would listen so that he would have a chance of escape.

"Uhh, no." Zhao said, stopping in front of Aang, "Tell me, how does it feel to be the only airbender left? Do you miss your people?" a smirk crawled up his lips as Aang felt a sharp pain of loss in his heart. He _was _the only airbender left, the _last _airbender. With his death an entire culture would be wiped out. He let his head drop to his chest in defeat, not wanting Zhao to see his wet eyes.

"Don't worry, you wont be killed like they were."

Aang's head snapped up and he looked at Zhao in astonishment.

"See, I fell for it. I really thought that you were the Avatar. You were an airbender, that was obvious, but the _Avatar? _Just weeks before you broke out of that iceberg I was watching another suspect. He was fast, he was undefeated, and most of all, he was dangerous because he didn't _obviously use_ any bending. It was only after he had left the scene that we found traces of bending. _All four elements._"

Aang looked at Zhao like he had gone crazy. Aang _was_ the Avatar. What was Zhao going on about?

"Of course he was only a suspect. For all we knew it could have been several people working together, but that still didn't explain the airbending. When you broke out you were so _glaringly_ obvious I'm surprised that I fell for it. A decoy. A masterfully placed one and you actually _believe_ you're the Avatar, but a decoy none the less."

Aang felt his disbelief rise but stayed silent, wanting to know about this person that Zhao thought was the real Avatar.

"When following you I noticed that you only used _airbending_ to fight. Now why was that, I had asked myself. But of course, it's because you _can't_ bend any other elements, isn't it?" The smile on Zhao's face made him look slightly deranged.

"So," Aang shifted, his brows furrowed in confusion, "If you think this other person is the Avatar then why capture me?"

"Ah," Zhao said, his eyes glinting, "You see, I'm using you for bait. With you here, the only airbender left, he will have to go to you for training. If you're caught than he will have to rescue you."

Aang felt his throat seize up. Another airbender was possibly out there, looking for him, might even come _here_. No that was impossible. There were no other airbenders. There could only be one Avatar at a time, and he was it. Zhao's voice broke him from his thoughts again.

"SoI'll keep you alive, but just barely."

Aang shook his head and sucked in as much air as he could before blowing it at Zhao as he went to leave. It knocked Zhao against the wall where he got up and turned back to Aang with a scowl.

"Blow all the winds you want, little airbender," Zhao growled, "There is no escaping this fortress, and no one is coming to rescue you."

With that he swept out of the room, leaving Aang to ponder what was going to happen to him. No one was coming for him. Zhao was crazy about thinking that someone else was the Avatar. Sokka and Katara were sick, and even if they were all right they wouldn't know where he was.

He was alone.

Aang bowed his head and for the first time since he had broken out of the iceberg, allowed himself to cry. Silent tears fell down his cheeks, leaving tracks where the water had washed away the dirt. Aang longed for his old life. He wished he had never run away. Maybe if he hadn't he would still have Kuzon. Kuzon would never have hesitated to help him. Aang was his little brother.

There was the sound of a scuffle happening outside of the door but Aang ignored it until the door creaked open. Peeking up through his lashes and wondering who it was Aang jerked in surprise. A mask of blue grinned back at the chained boy, Dual Dao strapped to his back, and a black suit of unusual make.

There was not mistaking him. He had been famous in Aang's time.

He was the Blue Spirit.

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Oooo, it's Zuko, come to the rescue! Wait, but Zhao knows that he is the Avatar. The swords to Aang's neck aren't going to work this time. **

***Chuckles evilly***

**Review please! (If anyone has a question, you can ask. I don't bite . . . usually.)**


	12. Under Cover of Darkness

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

**It's been a long time since I last posted, I know. There was a malfunction with my laptop and I kept losing my progress. I had to rewrite several times because of that.  
**

**Anyway I really hope that you readers all like this chapter. There might be a lot of mistakes so please tell me if you see one. I tried to correct 'FireNation' like every one keeps telling me. Lets see if it works this time. I always write it like it's supposed to be but for some reason when I post it the corrections get mashed together. **

**Thank you wonderful readers for reading and I hope you enjoy!**

_Previously:_

_He was alone. _

_Aang bowed his head and for the first time since he had broken out of the iceberg, allowed himself to cry. Silent tears fell down his cheeks, leaving tracks where the water had washed away the dirt. Aang longed for his old life. He wished he had never run away. Maybe if he hadn't he would still have Kuzon. Kuzon would never have hesitated to help him. Aang was his little brother. _

_There was the sound of a scuffle happening outside of the door but Aang ignored it until the door creaked open. Peeking up through his lashes and wondering who it was Aang jerked in surprise. A mask of blue grinned back at the chained boy, Dual Dao strapped to his back, and a black suit of unusual make. _

_There was no mistaking him. He had been famous in Aang's time. _

_He was the Blue Spirit. _

**Hidden Secrets**

"Speaking"

_"Thinking"_

_Memories_

**_Letters/Dreams_**

**Chapter 12**

**_Under Cover of Darkness_**

_Third Person P.O.V_

The Blue Spirit crouched silently in the bushes, observing his target from where he was hidden. His mask was already in place over his face and his swords were strapped to his back. In front of him the land had been scorched by fire, leaving it barren of any cover that might help him reach his goal. This was the closest that he could get by himself without being seen by the guards.

Silently, the Blue Spirit slipped through the shadows and back into the night. Above the three walled stronghold the moon glowed brightly, watching.

0~o~0

The guards stood straight with board expressions marring their faces. They were here to keep the boy behind them in. They knew that the Admiral had planned, but they also knew that no one could get past the three walls without being spotted . . . unless they really were a spirit. The guards doubted that, though.

That is why, when the helmet slammed into the wall a distance down the hall, they were not prepared for what was to follow. One guard left his position to go check on what was happening, leaving the other three to guard the door. Seconds of silence passed until he turned the corner, then a thud and flash of fire. The guard didn't return.

Still standing with blank faces two more guards left their post to go after the first. The final guard was understandably nervous. He was sure his two companions could deal with whatever was going on, but he could not help but feel a chill run up his spine. Two more thuds followed by silence later made him rethink. His hand reached for the emergency horn hung on the wall and he brought it to his lips to sound the warning. It never reached its destination.

A small, deadly sharp knife few through the air and slammed into the horn, biting deep into its bone side and ripping it from the guard's hand. The guard took one look at the blue masked man speeding toward him and felt fear. He spun to the left, hopping to avoid the masked man who he knew now was the Blue Spirit. It was no use as the Blue Spirit calculated his shift in movement before he could and lashed out with one foot, hitting the guard in the side of the head and knocking him out cold.

The Blue Spirit stood still for a moment, his chest barely even stirring, before bending down and grasping the discarded horn. One gloved hand grasped the knife still embedded in its side and pulled it cleanly out. After tucking the knife safely away the Blue Spirit strung the guard and his companions up to the roof and gagged them with cloth torn from the bottom of their uniforms so that they could not call for help.

When finished with this, he returned to the door and pushed it open just enough to slip through into the other room. The boy he was searching for looked up as he walked in and confusion lit up the grey eyes before they filled with recognition. The Blue Spirit had been active when he was alive, why not now?

Without pausing to listen to Aang's questions the Blue Spirit pulled out his identical swords and swung them around to build up momentum wile walking forward. As he reached the avatar he brought the swords down swiftly on the chains, cutting them cleanly without leaving a scratch. He repeated the action with the shackles on the boy's legs.

Turning the masked man headed for the door.

"Wait!" Aang said, rubbing his red wrists, "A-are you helping me escape?"

Beneath the mask the Blue Spirit rolled his eyes. They needed to be fast and quiet. There was a greater risk the longer the avatar stayed here of them both being caught. He gestured with his sword out the door and slipped through again, knowing Aang would follow.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Silence came on them until Aang broke it again with an exclamation of, "My frogs!"

The Blue Spirit paused and glanced back at the boy with disbelief only to see the avatar running down the hall in the wrong direction, chasing after several half frozen frogs. Swiftly the Blue Spirit sped after him and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, dragging him back the way that they were going.

The mission just went from a high possibility of discovery to a definite fact.

0~o~0

_Zuko's P.O.V_

Zuko secured the rope to the wall swiftly, thanking all the spirits that were listening that they had gotten this far. After making sure that the rope would not fall down wile they were climbing he gestured for Aang to go first. It would be easier to get out using bending but he didn't want to expose himself so soon. When he was alone, sure he would do it, but in front of Aang and in the middle of a Fire Nation fortress? No.

Zuko beckoned Aang forward with one hand. It would be better for him to go first so that he could better protect them from the rear. The boy didn't hesitate to grab the rope and scramble up, not unlike a squirrel on a tree. He started climbing with quick, expert hands, and occasionally glancing back to make sure that no one saw them.

A sudden warning bell startled Zuko and his head snapped around to see some people from the other wall pointing at him and the Avatar. He cursed under his breath. Why did Aang have to wear such bright, eye catching clothing again? The rope trembled in his hands and then snapped as it was cut from above.

Zuko scowled, prepared to bend to stop their fall. Aang beat him to it, though, and a ball of air slowed them down just enough to let them drop on their feet. Immediately he was locked in battle with Fire Nation soldiers. Completely surrounded, he pulled his swords out and began. To everyone else he quickly became a blur of black cloth and the light blue of his swords.

After several seconds of fighting Zuko narrowed his eyes as he realized that in order to survive he might need to use bending. A low, animalistic growl slipped past his lips, making all those who heard it hesitate. Spinning once more with a slash of his swords and splitting a spear down the middle he prepared a spark of fire inside his hands. Fire was the easiest to call on at the moment and he figured that if they wanted to look for him they would be looking in the wrong place.

It proved unnecessary, though, when the soldiers in front and behind him were blown away in a large gust of wind. Zuko glanced at Aang, noting absentmindedly that it seemed he had found himself a staff somewhere. The avatar made a quick slash upward, directly at him and he felt a shiver of alarm go up his spine as he felt himself launched into the air.

Cursing himself softly under his breath Zuko used some discrete earth bending to avoid slamming his shoulder into the hard rock of the wall that they had been attempting to clime. Getting his feet under him Zuko clutched his swords in his hands, holding them in opposite directions as he watched the soldiers running toward him. What had Aang been thinking? Did he want his rescuer killed?

Zuko just barely held in a yelp of surprise as legs wrapped under his shoulders and he was suddenly lifted into the air and flying over the wall, several meters above the ground. He glanced up in surprise and was reminded that Aang was a Master Airbender for a reason. The staff that he had noted before was spinning too fast to follow, fast enough to keep them up with a little help from Aang's bending.

_I have got to learn how to do that!_

The looks on the soldiers' faces were that of disbelief. A sudden glint caught his eye and Zuko turned just in time to block a thrown spear from hitting Aang. Several more came flying up from below that he did his best to block, but every movement that he made caused them to get lower and lower. They barely made it to the other wall.

More fighting ensued. Zuko knocked several Fire Nation soldiers from the wall, wincing each time at the thought of what awaited them at the bottom: Several broken bones, if they were lucky. At the moment though, he was desperate to escape.

"Hold these, and jump on my back!" one of the ladders the soldiers had been using to get up the wall was pushed into his hands by Aang before he ran and jumped off the wall, using the ladder as a giant walking stick.

Ignoring the insanity of the idea Zuko ran and jumped after the Airbender, landing on Aang's back with the ladder still in his arms. The ladder under them bent forward and the boy used another ladder that he had been holding to get them several more yards. Seeing the ladder they were on coming to an end he handed the ladder that he was holding down and Aang used that one as well.

Zuko could not believe it was working. The most insane idea that had ever been thought of, using the enemy's own ladders to cross the gap between the walls, was actually working! He doubted the Fire Nation had ever thought of this as an escape. They were almost to the other wall now, and from there it would be relatively easy to escape into the woods.

And then some firebender who just had to be smarter than the rest decided to set fire to the bottom of the ladder they were on. Great, just great. The latter they were on was not fire resistant at all and was quickly going up in flames. Aang was forced to make the jump too soon.

He missed but Zuko was able to grab onto the wall with one hand, desperately trying to keep them both up. If it had been just him it would have been easy, but the airbender's added weight, slight though it was, was too much for him to pull them both up. His gloved fingers burned as they slipped over the edge.

Again another air ball stopped them from landing too hard. Zuko looked around them and frowned. The symbols on these soldiers uniforms were slightly different, marking them as firebenders. Aang, seeing the fire wave suddenly coming toward them, pushed Zuko behind him as he created an air cyclone to keep the fire away from them. The air was heating up quickly though and he could see that Aang was getting tired.

Zuko knew that he had to do something, and fast, or they would both be roasted chicken.

"Stop! The avatar must be taken alive!" Zhao voice called through the flames. Zuko's face was expressionless. He had never liked the demanding general, and he like him even less now than before his banishment.

The fire cleared and Zuko winced as he realized that he would have to threaten Aang's life if they wanted to escape. But he froze when he noticed that Zhao was not looking at Aang, but at him. A cold, triumphant smile crept up Zhao's lips and his eyes glinted with cunning.

"Well, well, isn't it the infamous Blue Spirit. Or should I say . . . Avatar."

Zuko felt like he had been dunked into artic water and left to be trapped under the ice. His limbs were heavy with horror and stunned disbelief. He had been so careful, how had they found out? His heart beat rapidly, threatening to burst from him.

His distraction was just what they had wanted. An arrow sliced through the air and slammed into his shoulder. Zuko gasped and stumbled backward, his hand dropping his sword in favor of clutching his bleeding shoulder. He gritted his teeth against the pain as his vision became blurry. What was happening? He had had injuries worse that this before, why was this one effecting him so badly?

"Interesting, isn't it," Zuko heard Zhao call through the fog, "A fast acting poison meant to knock out impossibly strong opponents. It was designed for you, you know."

Out of the corner of his eye Zuko could see the blurry outline of Aang glancing at him and then to where Zhao's voice had come from. Determination surged through him, helping him hold off the pain and darkness for a little bit longer. He would not be captured by Zhao, and he would not allow Aang to be either. With the last of his waning strength Zuko pulled his arm away from his wound, grabbed his sword from the ground, put it in its sheath, and ignoring the pain, scooped his arms downward before thrusting them upward again. The ground under his feet rumbled and then shot up into the air, higher then the wall, and out across the wall to the other side.

Then they were falling. Zuko felt the last of his strength leave him as he went limp, hopping beyond hope that Aang could escape. The jarring impact that the ground made as it hit the dirt outside the wall barely stirred his darkening mind. He felt a pare of arms wrap around him and a gentle murmuring of reassurance as he was dragged away.

Then everything went black.

0~o~0

_Aang's P.O.V_

Aang had to admit, he had not seen this coming. Getting rescued by the Blue Spirit was one thing. Finding out that this same Blue Spirit was the person that the crazy Fire Nation man had been spouting off about being the real avatar? He had to have knocked his head on something.

But then the Blue Spirit had been injured and Aang realized that it didn't matter. This man had just saved his life. He could find out what was going on later, after he had gotten them out of this mess. The Blue Spirit was swaying where he was standing and Aang could tell that the arrow had been poisoned. It seemed that the masked man was about to collapse at any minute.

The crazy Fire Nation man opened his mouth again, probably to order his men to grab them, when the ground gave a rumble. Aang turned his eyes to the Blue Spirit in disbelief as the man stood shakily and shoved his hands downward and then up, like he was scooping up a pile of hay. The ground under their feet separated from everything else and shot into the sky and over the wall wobbly.

The Blue Spirit collapsed and Aang quickly used his airbending again to slow the chunk of dirt before it hit the ground too hard. They both rolled from the now grounded mound of dirt and he looked up to see the gates opening.

Glancing around Aang noticed that the forest was just a few short meters away. He knew that in order to escape they would have to be quick, but Aang didn't know if he could carry the Blue Spirit all the way though the forest for very long.

Making a decision Aang turned around and swept his arms in a circular motion, causing the winds to billow up and spread dust between them and the wall. It would cost the soldiers several minutes to find their way through the fog like air, giving Aang just enough time to grab the Blue Spirit and run, which is just what he did.

By the time Aang had reached the tree line the soldiers had made it out of the fog only to find empty ground where their target should be. He never glanced back to see if he was being followed. His only worry was getting the Blue Spirit to safety and the disturbing amount of red that was seeping into his cloths from the arrow wound.

He hoped that his rescuer would be ok.

.

**Reviews for chapter 11**

**Thank you for your reviews. I enjoy reading through them.  
**

**Some questions asked were . . .**

**1) Will Zuko seek out Master Yugoda for training in healing?**

_** To tell the truth, I never really thought about that. It's an interesting idea. It wont happen for a wile though, because the Blue Spirit has been discovered as an Avatar. He can't really stay with Aang and lead Zhao right to them can he? **_

**2) Zutara?**

**_I'm not delving into romance just yet. I've never written one. If it comes to it I'll have a vote at the very end of the story and include an extra chapter. Weather he will be with Katara, Mia, Song, or someone never mentioned in the cartoons all depends on what people want. For now, I am not writing parings. Sorry if you wanted it. _ **

**3) So what side was Zuko burned on?**

_**(Wince) Um . . . I think his left . . . maybe.**_

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**.**

**I think that is all. If you have any more questions just ask. I know that I am not very clear when I'm writing and some things are left up to speculation. **

**Thanks again for reading!**


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